Betrayal's Reward
by Trugeta
Summary: Betrayed by the ones he held dear. Thrown into the hellhole that is Ryker's Island. Innocent. Left to rot. Saved from a fate worse than death by an untainted offspring of Venom and presumed dead one Ranma Saotome was allowed to start anew.
1. A vile plan

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 1: A vile plan**

**The Kuno Mansion**

Kuno Kodachi was not having a good day. In fact, it was downright dissatisfying, and the infamous Black Rose of St. Hebereke was not even able to enjoy the wonderfully sunny and warm day. The young woman stood in her greenhouse and tended to her roses, something that was normally relaxing and fulfilling to her. But not today.

Her eyes were narrowed, her jaw constantly clenched and unclenched and her beautiful face was scrunched up as the young woman contemplated the best course of action to free her Ranma-sama from the vile clutches of the red-haired harridan. She had always hated the commoner, but the bitch had gone too far when she had hidden her Ranma-sama from her on their wedding day. And they could have gotten married at this very day so easily! But no, the little red-haired bitch had had to spoil it!

Her dream of marrying her Ranma-sama had been within her grasp, they both had even been dressed for the occasion! But the red-haired commoner had dared to claim her Ranma-sama, and she had indeed gone way too far this time. This time she would pay, and pay dearly!

"Insolent little bitch... This time I will remove you from the picture entirely. Killing such a tramp as you are is beneath a Kuno, no, I will come up with something much more fitting. Let's see... The uncouth harridan that chases my Ranma-sama loves to fight..." Kodachi mused with gleaming eyes as she trimmed her roses, "and from all I have seen she cannot reject a challenge. Oh yes, I can use that against her!"

Her mad laughter echoed through the greenhouse as a plan began to form in her insane mind. "Yes... I must lure the harridan out of the prefecture, preferably the country so that she can not endanger my progress with my Ranma-sama... Bwahahahahahha! That's perfect! I'll use one of our anonymous subsidiaries to host a martial arts competition in the USA. The vile harridan will not be able to resist when she receives an invitation."

Kodachi cackled madly and danced through the greenhouse, black rose-petals rising up in a storm, and it took her several minutes to get a grasp on herself. Once she had logic returned, and logic suggested a different course of action. "Hmm, better yet... I will use our majority shares we have in that company called Oscorp... Nobody knows we have shares, and I can set up the whole thing anonymously. Yes, that solves the problem of how to lure the bitch away. But how do I ensure that she stays away, preferably locked up forever with the key thrown away?"

The Kuno girl started pacing, her brows furrowed in concentration. "It must seem that she committed a serious crime... Grave enough so that extradition is not possible. How do the westerners call it? First degree murder? Yes, that would be ideal. But how to stage it?" she paused in her movement.

"I wonder... Sasuke!" Kodachi bellowed loudly.

"Yes, Mistress? You called?" the diminutive ninja asked, his bowed head almost touching the ground.

"Yes, you dimwit. Now go and fetch the phone, I have some calls to place." she spat, her face contorted in annoyance and rage.

Sasuke shrank back into himself. "Y-Yes, Mistress. Immediately!" the frightened little ninja exclaimed and poofed away.

-.-

Kodachi waited eagerly for her loyal servant to return, her dark eyes gleaming with madness. Not even the trimming of her roses could distract her, for she was too impatient to get the answers she sought. Answers, that only a phone call could produce.

"What is taking the little idiot so long? If he takes any longer I am going to test my newest batch of poison and find out if it is really as deadly as I think..." she muttered darkly, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Here you are, Mistress," a sweating Sasuke exclaimed as his shaking hands held out a cell-phone.

The Kuno girl snatched it from her servant with a sneer on her face. "It took you long enough, you lowlife. My brother might be lenient with you, but _I_ am not. Fail to live up to my expectations one more time and you will end up as Midorigame's new chew-toy. Have you understood?"

"Y-Yes, M-mistress. O-Of course," Sasuke replied timidly, shrinking away from the intense insanity Kodachi was radiating.

"Good," Kodachi whispered in a pleased tone. "Now shoo, I have business to conduct. Woe beholds anyone who disturbs me."

His task fulfilled Sasuke sped away from Kodachi as if the devil was on his heels, not daring to chance another look. He would never understand how the girl could alternate between seemingly normal if eccentric behaviour and complete insanity at the drop of a hat. And at the moment he didn't care for a scientific explanation either, he was just glad that he had escaped with his skin intact.

-.-

Kodachi was sitting on the ground in a cross-legged position, and the pleased grin on her face steadily grew bigger. She had found the phone-number she had been looking for, hopefully the person it belonged to would be able to give her satisfying answers. He better had, for his own good...

"Dr. Renarw, how good of you to answer my call," she sneered.

_"Why hello to you too, Miss Kuno. What can I do for you?"_ the silky voice of the scientist asked.

"At least you still do possess common sense, westerner. I have to rid myself of an... obstacle. And I want to do it in a way that ensures she stays out of my hair for good. That is where you enter the picture," Kodachi explained and smiled insanely.

_"I see. How may I help you?"_

"Right to the point. An admirable trait for a commoner. Tell me, how far has your research pertaining to cloning progressed, doctor?"

_"We have made amazing progress since you last called__.__ we are now able to clone a human being, but we still have to fix some errors. I fear the cloned human being would not last longer than three days until accelerated cell deterioration sets in. Of course, that it just an estimation from our research conducted on animals,"_ the doctor explained.

Kodachi's eyes gleamed. "That is just perfect," she whispered, barely holding her laughter in.

_"Excuse me, what did you say?"_ Dr. Renarw asked from the other end of the line.

"I said that it would be perfect, Doctor. I have a plan, and you will assist me in any way I ask. Is that understood?" the Kuno girl asked with insanity tinting her voice.

_"Err, yes. So what is it that you want, Miss Kuno?"_

"Nothing much. You see, I want to frame the vile harridan who has thwarted my plans time and time again, and to this end it must seem that she committed homicide in your country. Extradition will not be possible in case of a first degree murder, and I will have the witnesses ready that will attest to that," Kodachi said appreciatively.

_"And what do you need me for?"_ the doctor asked from the other end of the line.

"Simple. The scion of house Kuno cannot bedevil her person with plotting to kill a real person, and that is where your cloning technology comes in. Clones are no real persons, so killing it is of no consequence as it is nothing more than a shallow copy of the original. I will provide you with the required DNA, and you will carry out my plan."

_"What plan?"_

"I want to know if it's possible to 'program' the clone so that it will kill the first boy who hits on her. I know from experience that the red-haired bitch likes to play hard to get, and I want to carry it to the extreme," Kodachi said with the calm of the insane.

_"K-Kill?"_

"Yes. What do I care if some gaijin commoner gets killed if I get my Ranma-sama? Besides, it will not be us who will commit the barbaric act, but the clone. You will provide me with the clone and we will do the rest. Make it so that the clone obeys my commands, is that understood?"

_"Y-Yes."_

"Good. Failure to comply will result in the destruction of your reputation and everything you hold dear. Is that understood, Doctor?" Kodachi asked threateningly.

Unbeknownst to her, her dialogue partner was smirking sadistically. _"Y-Yes,"_ he pretended to stammer, "_B-But I need a time schedule so t-that I can p-plan accordingly."_

"That is acceptable. You will receive all relevant data shortly, as well as the genetic material. Good bye, Doctor., Kodachi said and terminated the communication line with an evil smirk.

The red-haired bitch would go down, and she would get her Ranma-sama in the end. It was just a question of careful planning and preparations.

-.-

**Three months later**

Life had not meant well with Ranma Saotome in the last months. The currently red-haired boy-turned-girl sighed as she sat in one of her few favourite spots, the roof of the Tendo house. Akane and she had gotten into another pointless argument, again, and the blue-haired girl had left off in a huff right after she had malleted her into the koi-pond. Her declaration that she would spend the night at Yuka's had not really been that reassuring to Ranma.

But this incident was seemingly par for the course as of late. Her life seemed to be slipping through her fingers like sand, and it seemed she couldn't do anything right. To top it off, she was she still being virtually chased by her various fiancées, and, to cap it all, her own mother had joined the insane game of 'how-to-make-Ranma-Saotome's-life-hell' and supported the fathers in their harebrained campaign to get her married to Akane.

But she didn't want to get married any more. Not yet anyway. Sometime back in the last months after the wedding fiasco Ranma had realised that she was still way too young and immature to marry, and the problems that clung to her like chewing gum to the sole of a shoe didn't make it any better. She had learned a few bitter truths about herself in the last few months, especially after the wedding. The worst truth was that she and Akane would never survive married life. Or more correctly, she, Ranma, would not, not for long anyways. Not as they were.

One fundamental aspect every working relationship needed was missing in their relationship, she had realised: trust. Even after everything she had done for Akane, saving her countless times, lastly from Saffron, Akane still didn't trust her. That in conjunction with the other girl's jealousy and hair-trigger-temper was a recipe for disaster.

That was exactly what her daily life had slowly turned into, despite all her efforts to act more mature. An unmitigated, never ending disaster. But she couldn't really fault Akane. Not with how Ukyo and Shampoo, and not to mention that nutjob Kodachi were acting. Somehow it always seemed as if everything was her fault, and somewhere along the road her fiancée had so gotten used to suspect the worst of her that it had become a default.

Her fiancée was behaving like she always did, according to her usual behavioural patterns. Clobber first and ask questions later, if at all. But Ranma was confident that they would be able to overcome it, if... yes if they could just get away from the insanity that was Nerima. Just a few weeks off, alone, without parents, rivals, enemies and so-called friends.

She loved Akane, and deep in her heart Ranma knew that the other girl reciprocated the feeling. It had been painfully obvious at Phoenix Mountain, and at the failed wedding. Even Ryoga, the Akane-obsessed lost boy had let up, and that could only mean that their love had a chance.

But here, in Nerima with the insanity and constant pressure their love was doomed to suffocate. It had been alarming how fast things had returned to 'normal' after their return from Jusendo. It hadn't even taken more than a week! One week, and everyone had returned to treating her like the stupid martial arts jock and prize of the year. They needed a break, Akane and her, they needed to get away from here, but where to? And how?

"Ranma-kun, please come down! There's a letter for you," Kasumi called from down below.

"Comin', Kasumi!" the redhead replied and jumped from the roof. In a stunning display of martial arts skill she performed a somersault and landed safely in a low crouch, and got to her feet in what looked like one swift motion.

Ranma noticed that Kasumi had brought a steaming kettle with her and smiled at the other girl. Quickly dousing herself she returned to her birth gender and gave Kasumi a smile. "Thank you, Kasumi. You're the best." he remarked in his baritone, the smile reaching his eyes.

Kasumi smiled back and handed Ranma the letter. "You're welcome, Ranma-kun, and thank you for the compliment. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes," the brown-haired girl said as she walked back into the house.

The raven-haired boy nodded absently as he ripped the important looking envelope open. Extracting its contents Ranma began to scan the letter, and his eyes widened. First off, the letter was addressed to his female half, and she had been invited to a martial arts competition in New York, USA. 3rd to 16th of June, 1994. Flight included.

"Wait a sec here... USA?" Ranma exclaimed and scratched the back of his head, stumped. "What the hell?"

"Do you have to yell so loud, Saotome? Hmm, what is that in your hand? Another challenge letter?" Nabiki asked levelly as she stepped out of the house.

"What d'ya want, Nabiki?" Ranma asked in a neutral tone without turning around to look at the middle Tendo daughter.

"To know if a fight is going to take place so that I can plan accordingly. Being prepared is essential in my line of work, as you very well know, Saotome."

Ranma sighed, turned around and handed her the letter. "There. See if ya can make sense of it."

Nabiki took the letter and scanned it, her eyes widening. "Hmm, to Tendo Ranko... Martial Arts competition... New York, USA... participant plus two others…." she muttered absently, and suddenly her eyes widened, "Prize money... 1,000,000 Dollar!" she gasped.

"Saotome," the brown-haired girl exclaimed and fixated Ranma with an intent stare, dollar signs virtually shining in her eyes, "You have to compete. That is my... our chance to get filthy rich!"

"Money... I dun care 'bout money. I wanta know how 'em guys in the USA got wind of me. That shoulda been impossible." Ranma muttered, his face set in a scowl.

"That _might_ be because of the footage and film material I sold to the highest bidder." Nabiki smirked.

Ranma slapped his forehead. "Only me, I swear, only me," he muttered with a long-suffering sigh and added, "So this is authentic, huh? Good."

"I figured you would say that, Saotome. Oh, the money I'll make..." Nabiki drooled, greed making her eyes gleam.

"I so knew ya were goin' ta say that..." the pigtailed boy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Nabiki grinned a grin any shark would have been proud of. "Wait until we're there. We're going to make you a star, and I'll swim in money!"

"Whatever. This competition is next weekend, which means I got three days ta prepare. It would be in our best interest if ya wouldn't sell that info, or we'll have everyone on our heels!" Ranma remarked in a serious tone.

"Wow, you can actually make sense, Saotome. Who would have thought?" Nabiki teased with an impish grin.

"Can it. Stoppin' Akane from malleting me is gonna be hard enough, doncha think?"

Nabiki nodded against her will. "True, Saotome. We'll have to make sure you don't stick that foot of yours all the way in your big mouth, or the jet will crash when Akane mallets you." she smirked.

"Very funny..."

-.-

Ranma and his 'manager' had decided to wait until the next day to tell the others of Ranma's invitation to the Martial Arts tournament. The fathers had been too drunk anyway, Akane had had her sleepover at Yuka's and they had school holidays anyway, thus waiting for a bit had been deemed a sound course of action.

Nabiki had used her connections and all of her pull to fabricate the identity of Tendo Ranko for Ranma's alter ego, and due to the quality of Nabiki's contacts they knew the identity would stand up to each and any examination any time. It had cost Nabiki a hefty sum, but it had been a necessary investment. With Ranma's martial arts prowess it was practically a given that he would win, which meant that the middle Tendo daughter would get her investment back in spades.

The next morning carried out as usual. The morning spar between Ranma and his father was a reassuring if loud constant, just as much as the usual quick dunk in the pond for the two combatants involved. Kasumi called them in for breakfast soon thereafter, and a grinning Ranma wrung the excess water out of her hair as she walked towards the house. A look over her shoulder revealed a panda that was still floating in the pond, face-down.

"Hah, that showed pops for calling me girly!" the redhead crowed and smirked.

"Good morning, Ranma." Kasumi exclaimed as the redhead entered the living room.

Ranma returned the greeting and looked around, noticing that her mother and Mr. Tendo were already sitting at the table. Soun was reading his newspaper while he sipped his tea, nothing new there. Her mother was surveying her with a disapproving look, nothing new there too.

The redhead feigned a disinterested look, but deep inside she wished that her mother would just stop pestering her with that manliness bullshit. It was just so unfair how she showered her male side with affection and love, only to treat her female half like the worst possible trash.

"Son, it is not manly for you to be in this form. Change back immediately!" Nodoka admonished sternly.

Ranma let out a long-suffering sigh at her mother's predictable behaviour. "Can't I kill two birds with one stone and do that by getting a nice soak in the furo?"

**# You heard your mother, boy. Change back now! #** Flip. **# Kasumi, could I please have more bamboo? That's a very delicious batch, #** the panda signed.

Ranma threw him a surprised glance, but mused that he must have had enough time to recuperate. The redhead shrugged. Her father had always respawned fast.

"But of course, uncle Saotome," Kasumi replied with a serene smile.

"Why can he stay a panda and I hafta change back?" Ranma pouted and crossed her arms underneath her breasts. "No fair."

"Because he was already manly, son. And I expect the same of you with your future wife," Nodoka replied, her tone still stern.

Ranma blanched and screwed her eyes shut for a moment. "Too much information... Brain hurts..."

"How can something you don't have hurt, baka?" Akane teased as she entered the room. "Good morning auntie!" she added with a smile.

"Good morning, Akane," Nodoka replied with a fond smile, her expression turning serious. "I just explained to Ranma why he should change back into my manly son..."

"Actually, Ranma should stay a girl for now, Auntie," Nabiki spoke up nonchalantly as she walked out of the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her right hand.

Kasumi, who had followed her, placed a bundle of bamboo in front of the pandafied Mr. Saotome. **# Why is that, Nabiki? #** he asked in unison with Nodoka.

"Who cares," Akane muttered as she helped herself to a decent breakfast.

"I do, little sis. As does our sponsor, Tagaikatsu." Nabiki replied with a smirk.

This little piece of information caused face-vaults around the table. "T- Tagaikatsu?" asked a perplexed Genma, having quickly changed to human form courtesy of a conveniently placed cup of tea.

"What has Tagaikatsu to do with why my manly son should stay in this unmanly form?" Nodoka asked, both brows furrowed.

Nabiki inwardly rolled her eyes at Auntie Nodoka's manliness obsession. "Simple. Our Ranma-chan here, or should I say Tendo Ranko, has been invited to a martial arts tournament in New York, USA. And Tagaikatsu, the well renowned electronics company, is acting as her sponsor."

"But how?" asked a baffled Akane. "I mean, why should they be interested in the perverted baka?"

Ranma opted to resist her natural impulse to return fire with an insult of her own as it would only have distracted from their task. "I say they saw me in action while in girl form and were impressed with my awesomeness!"

"That you were invited as a girl supports this conclusion," Nabiki mused with a nod before Akane could insert a derogatory comment that would probably have sparked another argument.

"I'm not sure that's manly," Nodoka mused at the same time, her eyes narrowed.

"It isn't if the pervert's pretending to be a female martial artist," Akane opined with a sneer.

While Nabiki shot her younger sister an irritated look Genma fixated his wife with a steely gaze. "Wife, that's the chance of a lifetime! The prize money is bound to be gigantic, and if the boy has to be a girl to win it so be it!"

"And think about all the publicity the Dojo would gain, Nodoka," Soun agreed with a nod, "Ranma being in girl form is a small price to pay!"

"But it would be unmanly," Nodoka insisted, the frown never leaving her face.

Ranma just leant back in her chair and rolled her eyes, opting to say nothing. The manliness crap of her mother was really grating on her nerves. But this time it was in the fathers' best interest to go up against her mother. It was a really simple strategy Nabiki and she had chosen: appeal to the fathers greed, that would override the joining of the schools protocol and manliness be damned. A bit sad, but it worked.

"What for a sum are we talking about, Nabiki?" Soun asked curiously, laying down his newspaper on the desk.

"As I just told Akane, the prize money for the winner amounts to 1,000,000 US dollar. And that doesn't include the sponsor's money. Also, if we bring Ranma to the market really good we could all be filthy rich," Nabiki said calmly.

"1,000,000 US dollar?" Soun breathed, eyes wide in surprise, "Ranma has to compete!"

"Have you heard that, No-chan? We would be swimming in money, and our son could afford to buy a large house for Akane and himself where they could raise their kids," Genma suggested, his voice taking on a sly tone.

"WHAT!" Akane and Ranma exclaimed in stereo. "KIDS WITH HIM/HER? NEVER!"

The parents ignored their children's objections as usual, especially seeing as the strategy seemed to be working, for Nodoka's eyes gleamed. "Yes, I can see it now..." she giggled. "My manly son will win this tournament in his unmanly form, Akane and he will buy a house close to the dojo so that teaching students won't be a problem and I will get lots and lots of grandbabies. WAI!" she exclaimed happily and jumped to her feet, pulling fans out of nowhere and performing the grandchildren dance.

Soun and Genma grinned at each other and nodded with self-satisfied expressions. Their retirement was assured, and in a much better way than originally thought! The fathers continued to grin as they fetched the sake, and missed the looks Akane and Ranma were sporting completely.

"You're all outta your minds!" Ranma yelled, her face red. "Kids with the uncute tomboy? Ya gotta be kiddin'!"

Nabiki shook her head as she watched as Akane's ire was transferred from the parents to Ranma in the blink of an eye.

"What... Did... You... Say?" the red glowing Akane exclaimed.

Ranma glared right back. "That you're an uncute tomboy! Bii-daa!"

"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane yelled enraged, and her mallet blasted Ranma right into the pond.

"Nice going, Saotome," Nabiki drawled and shook her head. "At that rate a parachute is an absolute must."

The parents had ignored the incident completely as it was nothing out of the ordinary, and were busy planning the details. Shortly after a dripping wet Ranma had staggered into the room, who had immediately been supplied with a large towel by Kasumi, the two seventeen year old teens were presented with a fait accompli.

Nabiki had used all of her authority over the parents and had demanded that Akane and she accompany Ranma, and the fathers had given in when Nabiki had pointed out that the trip could be very beneficial to the joining of the schools. After all, it would just be Akane and Ranma aside from her, no rivals, challenges or other craziness.

Nodoka had agreed right away as it offered a great opportunity for her manly son to be manly with his fiancée, and what could be more romantic than fathering a child in a foreign country?

Ranma and the two younger Tendo sisters would be going on a trip to New York, where Ranma Saotome, or rather Ranko Tendo, would win the first ever New York Martial Art Tournament.

-.-

It had to be a new record for Nerima, but the families had been able to keep the trip quiet. Their success in that stemmed not least from the fact that Nabiki had promised not to sell the info. That had been understandably hard for the highschool racketeer, but the outlook on the really big bucks had made the decision an easy one in the end. Short-term profit was satisfying, yes, but it couldn't hold a candle to her shares on 1,000,000 US dollar.

Nabiki had, unsurprisingly, handled everything regarding Ranma's participation in the Tournament. She had faxed Ranma's acceptance, had negotiated free board and lodging and had even convinced her younger sister to accompany them. That Akane could hold a grudge was well known, and she had claimed loudly that the perverted baka could very well go to the US and stay there for all she cared, but Nabiki had known that her younger sister had always wanted to visit the US, and she had exploited this 'weakness' mercilessly.

Now they were sitting in Flight 408 Tokyo to New York, and the Nerimans were completely unaware that their resident chaos magnet plus fiancée and 'manager' had left. Ranma and Akane were sitting as far away from each other as possible. The Tendo girl was still angry with the boy-turned-girl, and Nabiki had deemed the arrangement of seats safer for all parties involved.

Ranma, who had to stay a girl from now on, had made herself as comfortable as her seat allowed, and didn't even care that Akane had hogged the window-seat. The other girl had never been outside of Japan before, but Ranma had seen the world on her training trip. Should Akane have some fun while she, Ranma, caught some sleep.

The redhead counted sheep as she snuggled into her seat, and before she had reached twenty she had drifted off into the land of Nod with the thought that things could only get better now that she had left the insanity of Nerima.

Little did she know that said insanity was way ahead of her.

-.-

"Doctor, the harridan has left for New York. You will provide the clone, my subordinates will do the rest. Understood?"

_"Y-Yes."_ came from the other end of the line. _"W-We have estimated that the clone will last for about 48 hours. S-She has been programmed to g-go into hiding until s-she dissolves."_

"Very good. Can I assume that its programming is to my satisfaction?"

_"O-Of course! S-She will attack e-everyone outside of the o-originals family if someone h-hits on her. H-Her behavioural patterns s-stem from the video-m-material you provided us with, M-Miss Kuno."_

"Most excellent. Meet my team at the preconcerted meeting place in two hours from now on. We will proceed as agreed upon. Your payment awaits in form of research funds as soon as the plan is complete."

_"G-Good."_

Kodachi simply ended the call and laughed maniacally. Her plan to remove the vile harridan from the picture was short from bearing fruit. Ranma-sama would be hers.

-.-

It was an awed group that checked in at New York airport. Even Ranma, who had seen much on her trip wore an appreciative look. The single exception was Nabiki, who wore a look of cool indifference. It was unsurprisingly her who noticed the sign first.

"Look, Ran_ko_-_chan_, your arrival was anticipated."

At Ranma's inquiring look Nabiki simply pointed to her immediate right. The redhead followed what Nabiki was pointing at, and her face scrunched up in disgust. There, about three-hundred metres away, stood two figures with a sign, apparently a man and a woman. That was not bad in itself, but the fact that the sign showed her grinning counterfeit, complete with sexy bathing suit, was. Ranma groaned and slapped her forehead. "Tendo Ranko... I can't believe I went along with this..."

"Nabiki," Ranma hissed, as she noticed that this was not a photo she had ever posed for.

"Yes, Ranko-chan? Is something wrong?"

"Only you, you pervert, only you," Akane muttered with a sneer as she stepped behind her fiancé.

"B-But I... She..." Ranma protested, while Nabiki winked.

"Nothing but. That," she pointed at the sign, "is perverted. A skimpy two piece bikini... What were you thinking?"

"Probably how to scam ice-cream." Nabiki inserted teasingly.

"Most likely, sis. Totally shameless, the pervert. Doesn't even think about the free show he gives other perverted boys," Akane nodded with a snort.

"What would you know, tomboy? Most bathin' suits would run away in fright as soon as they caught sight of ya. Flat as a board, built like a stick and thighs much too thick, that's ya," Ranma shot back irritably.

"RAN...KO NO..."

"Not here, sis," Nabiki said in a no-nonsense tone and stepped in before the mallet could form. "It would be downright idiotic to get arrested over some childish insults. And I believe our welcoming committee is waiting. They have noticed us. As has the rest of this airport," she concluded dryly.

Ranma and Akane glared at each other one more time, then they pretended that the other didn't exist. The redhead knew it had been stupid to react to Akane's insults, but despite all her resolution, she just couldn't stop herself. It was too deeply ingrained and had become habitual.

Nabiki on her part shook her head as her younger sister and her red-haired fiancée glared at each other, emphasising that they would never marry.

"They will never change," the middle Tendo girl muttered with a shake of her head, then she turned her head as she noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes. "Hey, Saotome, where do you think you are going?"

"Over to those guys," the redhead glared, "They can't be any worse than the tomboy."

Akane fumed, but couldn't do much more than watch as the redhead walked over to the welcoming committee. Feh, her insolent fiancée would get her just desserts later.

-.-

Ranma ignored Akane's burning glare that was trying to drill holes in the back of her head and walked over towards the waiting representatives with a confident stride. Her senses told her that the others were following, but she didn't care. This was her show.

"Hello. I believe you waiting for me?" she asked in her best English.

The westerners looked surprised. "Yes, Miss Tendo. I must admit, I am surprised that you speak our language so well. But where are my manners? I am Kyle Schaeffer. This is Elizabeth Clark," the blonde-haired man nodded over to an attractive raven-haired woman of medium height in her mid-thirties, who smiled at Ranma.

"We are representatives of NYMAT1994, and we are glad to have you here."

"NYwhat?" Ranma asked cluelessly.

"NYMAT1994. That's short for New York Martial Arts Tournament 1994, Miss Tendo," Kyle Schaeffer explained with a smile that showed off two rows of blinding white teeth.

"Ranko, may I call you Ranko?" the woman who had been introduced as Elizabeth Clark asked.

"Yes," Ranma grumbled, even though her facial expression conveyed that she didn't want to be called such.

"Excellent. Ranko, we have some red tape to take care off in our office here. Nothing major, just some forms to fill out," Elizabeth explained with a smile.

"If you would follow us, Miss Tendo? It won't take long," Kyle Schaeffer assured.

Ranma shrugged. "Kay. Can my friends come with me?"

Elizabeth Clark shook her head. "Sorry, that's not allowed. Seeing that none of the present are your parents or guardians, Ranko, that will not be possible."

"I am her manager, Tendo Nabiki. And I must insist that I accompany my client. I have to make sure she does not sign anything disadvantageous."

Kyle Schaeffer smiled at her. "I am sorry, Miss Tendo, but our regulations don't allow it as it pertains private data. You are no parent or guardian, which means that you are not privy to what we have to discuss. And no, no exceptions. Rules are rules, and the sooner we are done the sooner you will get an appointment for negotiations pertaining to your potential shares."

"Potential shares?" Nabiki asked in a barely level tone, scarcely suppressed greed making her eyes gleam.

"Of course," Elizabeth Clark replied with a smile. "Your client is well renowned, and one of our sponsors would be interested in making a contract. If that is possible."

"Our Boss, Mr. Hughes, will handle it, Miss Tendo. It might just be that he has a time slot for you tomorrow," Kyle Schaeffer added. "But he is a busy man, and we are already behind schedule regarding Miss Tendos' red tape."

Nabiki's mind was solely locked on the prospect of making profit. "Take care of the red tape, but don't try to trick my client. She will tell me anything anyway. And be sure to make that appointment."

The two NYMAT1994 representatives nodded in apparent acceptance. "If you would follow us, Miss Tendo."

Ranma shrugged again. "Kay, if there ain't no other way. Hope it doesn't take too long."

A gleam appeared in Kyle Schaeffer's eyes, but no one saw it. "I'm sure it won't."

-.-

Five minutes later Ranma was sitting in a small office. She had been led through a confusing array of corridors and had finally added up in the office of Dirk Hughes, who was apparently the boss of Mr. Schaeffer and Ms. Kyle. The redhead had hoped that things could be taken care of fast, but the fact that the office had been empty had shattered her hopes of trying out the nearest McDonalds.

Thus it was a sulking, hungry and impatient Ranma who fidgeted in her chair, a bored look on her face as she and her hosts were waiting for the boss of Elizabeth and Kyle. Ranma had just begun to go through the ways of blocking a frontal assault and her options at retaliation when the door was finally opened.

"Sorry," an unassuming man in his mid-fifties said as he sat down behind his desk, smoothing out his black business suit. "A meeting took longer than thought."

"Not a problem, sir. We didn't wait for long," Kyle Schaeffer replied, his tone level and professional.

"Good, good. So this is Miss Tendo?" the man asked, looking at Ranma.

The redhead surveyed the man before giving her answer. Mr. Hughes was a chubby man with greying hair, and so completely unassuming that one would forget him after ten seconds of meeting him. He was no threat.

"Yes, I am," Ranma replied confidently in English, her fingers steepled.

"Oh, you speak English. That's excellent. Saves us the costs for a translator, seeing that we will not be lost in translation here," he grinned and chuckled at his own joke.

Kyle and Elizabeth laughed politely, and Ranma looked at Mr. Hughes with a weird expression. "He try to make joke?" she asked in her best Xian Pu impression.

A distinctly unamused expression flitted across Mr. Hughes face, but it was gone so quickly Ranma didn't notice, and the man had a perfectly neutral expression on his face when he clapped his hands. "Before we start filling out forms, would you care for some tea and biscuits, Miss Tendo?"

Considering that the meal she had been served during the flight had been tiny Ranma barely stopped the drool from running down her chin. "That'd be perfect," she said with a smile.

"Good, good. Miss Clark, if you would?"

"Of course, sir," Miss Clark replied politely and left the office.

The next few minutes were spent with small talk as Mr. Hughes questioned Ranma on her exploits, and the redhead answered as thoroughly as possible. She didn't go in depth about her stay in Nerima, and just gave the general impression that she was a tough cookie who was a force to be reckoned with.

Miss Clark finally returned with a trayful of cookies and a pot of tea. The raven-haired woman served the tea expertly, and Ranma took the steaming cup all too gladly. She took a sip, placed the cup on the desk and reached for two cookies which she devoured with pleasure.

The redhead was so immersed in snacking that she didn't notice the grins that were exchanged between Miss Clark and Mr. Schaeffer. Only when spots began dancing in front of her vision Ranma sensed that something was very wrong, but by then it was far too late. The last she heard before darkness claimed her was the taunting voice of Miss Clark.

"There's no sense in fighting it, stupid girl. This binary poison is too strong, even for you. Soon your clone will cut loose and you'll reap what it'll sow, just like our contractee wants. Enjoy your stay in hell..."

**to be continued**…

**Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. **

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board for their continued great help. **

**And last but not least, many thanks to my new beta for this story, Ordieth. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.


	2. The trial

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

******Chapter 2: The trial**

"And that's how it happened," Ranma said in English, and seconds later mutterings went through court room three, where the sentencing hearing of the trial the State New York vs. Ranko Tendo was taking place.

A middle-aged Caucasian woman jumped to her feet, her face contorted in rage. "LIAR!" she bellowed in rage, "YOU KILLED MY JIMMY, LITERALLY RIPPED HIM APART! YOU MONSTER, I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!"

Agreeing murmurs swept through the courtroom as the woman was pulled back into her seat and into a comforting hug by a man, probably her husband. Said tall Caucasian was glaring daggers at Ranma while he was holding the sobbing woman who had broken down as soon as she was in the man's arms.

Ranma had gone deathly pale as still happened every time the accusation was made. "N-No, I didn't do nuthin'," she denied, shaking her head several times for emphasis.

"Silence!" the Judge Edkinson exclaimed, and brought his hammer down a few times to re-establish order. He then looked at Ranma.

"So this is how it happened, Miss Tendo?" he asked 'Ranko Tendo' in English.

Ranma nodded, having regained her composure. "Yes. The next thing I know is waking up in some dirty back alley with guns pointed in my face," she replied in fluent English.

She had spent the last four months on bringing her English back to what it had been prior to coming to Nerima, when she had been really good, and she had succeeded. There was no way she would go into this farce of a trial unprepared. "And I said it many times, I am not Miss Tendo!" she emphasised.

"Your honour, if I may…" a big man in an elegant black business suit drawled.

"Go ahead, Mr. Burke." the Judge said to the so named Mr Burke - who had been introduced as the prosecuting attorney at law - with a nod.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, honoured members of the jury, what I will now reveal to you may come as a shock. Miss Tendo is not just a young woman, no, she is a _mutant_! Hot water turns her into a man, down to the genetic level as our scientists ascertained! That, and reports on her other mutant abilities are all included in the opinions." the tall man said and began handing out said opinions to the Judge, the defender and the members of the jury.

Murmurs spread through the crowd once again at Mr Burke's words.

"Other mutant abilities?"

"Dangerous!"

"Freak!"

"Disgusting murdering mutant!"

Mr. Burke looked smug and picked up where he had left off as soon as the Judge had re-established order. "As you can see, the change from female to male is real. Very ral. We even have video material. That reminds me, some coffee, Miss Tendo? Oh, you prefer tea, don't you?" he asked nonchalantly and fetched a can and a cup.

He placed both in front of Ranma and made as if to fill the cup. Predictably Mr. Burke slipped, and hot tea almost boiled Ranma's hand, making the teen cuss and shake his hand several times, glaring at Mr. Burke. The change had taken place immediately, and a male Ranma sat in front of an astonished audience.

"You bastard," Ranma muttered in Japanese, his eyes narrowed with barely suppressed anger.

"Objection, your honour!" exclaimed the defender in apparent outrage, "I object to my client being treated this way!"

"Overruled, Mr. Wilde. This was impressive practical proof that Miss Tendo is indeed a mutant. So what changes her back?" the Judge asked curiously.

"Cold water, your honour," Mr. Burke said and splashed Ranma with a convenient glassful, initiating the change. Through all of this Ranma fumed, but couldn't do much of anything. "You see, hot water changes her into a male."

"And what of the claims of my client that she is cursed? That has never really been investigated!"

"Mr. Burke..." the Judge said as he saw that the prosecuting attorney had gotten to his feet.

"Your honour, while it is true that we live in a world where super-powers and magic are real, we found no hint of this Jusenkyo the accused talked about. We even cooperated with the NASA to get accurate satellite images of the area, but there was nothing but a big lake. This whole curse drivel is utter nonsense." he sneered and sat back down.

"It is not! All those damned cursed pools combined into that lake!" Ranma exclaimed indignantly.

"This is ridiculous, your honour," Mr. Burke retorted silkily, his brows furrowed in distaste. "We may not have the proper scientific equipment to prove the X-Gene in humans, but her ability to change genders and her advanced healing are not found in normal humans. This is not a matter of a curse, but of evolution. And in a few years we will be able to prove it."

"Objection!" Ranma's defender exclaimed, "You have _no_ scientific proof that my client is a mutant, only presumptions! My client has repeatedly claimed that there are other cursed individuals in the Nerima ward! What about them? Were they questioned? Were they tested?"

Mr. Burke scoffed in disdain. "If you refer to the so called 'Amazons' that own a restaurant called the 'Cat Café' in Nerima, they were not available for questioning. Some urgent family matter or something to the effect that required their presence in China. We _did_ question and test one Ryoga Hibiki, of whom Miss Tendo claimed that he was cursed as well, but it turned out that he was not. Face it, Mr. Wilde, your client is a liar."

"I AM NOT!" Ranma bellowed in outrage, "THOSE DAMN CURSES EXIST! I HAVE ONE! THAT DAMN RYOGA MUST HAVE USED WATERPROOF SOAP!"

Judge Edkinson reacted immediately and admonished Ranma, and the redhead slumped in her seat when she realised that no one believed her. "Bastard attorney..." she muttered in Japanese.

"Your honour, Miss Tendos stories are bogus. She, and _only_ she has the mutant ability to change genders. Miss Ranko Tendo is a woman, which is also a reason why I would suggest solitary confinement in a maximum security cell on Ryker's Island. Miss Tendo _is_ female, and…"

"I AM A _GUY_!" Ranma hollered, creating even more mutterings.

"You see what I meant when I referred to her gender disorder, your honour? A stay in solitary confinement might help remedy it seeing that she would have time for herself in case of a conviction. We strongly suspect that it was Miss Tendos inability to deal with her mutant powers that led to the unfortunate events. The psychiatric evaluation leaves no conclusion other than that the pressure of her mounting gender disorder must have driven her over the edge," Mr. Burke explained, his expression dispassionate.

"I see," the Judge mused thoughtfully after browsing through a folder that presumably contained the psychiatric evaluation, "Continue."

Mr. Burke inclined his head. "Thank you, your honour. Had it not been for the help of Miss Nabiki Tendo, a brave young woman who tried to stop the accused, her own cousin, mind you, along with her sister from slaughtering the poor victims we might not have found out as quickly as we did!"

"Feh, if being thrown through a wall and breaking a lot of bones in the process means trying to stop the bitch then I qualify." Nabiki muttered dryly, lancing Ranma with a side-long hateful glare that the redhead returned in kind.

"Very interesting, Miss Tendo," Mr. Wilde, Ranma's defender mused, "So you didn't try to heroically throw yourself in harm's way, then?"

"Objection, your honour. The bravery of Miss Nabiki Tendo is of no relevance." Mr. Burke said in a tone that bordered on bored.

"Agreed. Go on, Mr. Burke." the Judge said while Mr. Wilde sat down with a disappointed look.

"Your honour, I would like to answer the question, seeing that it is in the protocols anyway." Nabiki said stone-faced.

"While this is unusual I have no objections. What about the attorneys? Mr. Burke? Mr. Wilde?" the Judge asked.

"None, your honour." both attorneys replied.

"Very well. Miss Ranko Tendo, you may leave the witness stand for the duration of Miss Nabiki Tendo's testimony. Guards, lead her to her chair and reattach the chains."

Ranma, who was practically forced to her feet by the guards locked eyes with Nabiki and matched her icy-cold glare. She was yet another one who had abandoned her, who had even inflicted damage on her with her voluntarily given information. No one stood or had stood by her, and why should they? It was that much easier to abandon someone, lean back and watch how they were thrown to the wolves. And it seemed as if Nabiki wanted to have her part in ensuring that exactly that happened.

-.-

Five minutes later the attorneys and the Judge had gone through the preliminary questions and were getting down to the nitty gritty. Ranma's defender had just repeated his prior question, and Nabiki regarded him with a cold look.

"First off, it all happened so fast that neither my sister, the other patrons, nor I could have reacted in a way that would have prevented the happenings. I have seen a lot in my life, being Neriman brings that about, but it tends to shock the living daylights out of you if someone you thought you knew," she glared coldly at Ranma, "goes about and slaughters some boys."

"THAT WAS NOT SOME BOY, THAT WAS MY JIMMY!" the same woman as before exclaimed heatedly.

Four other women who were seated in a row and whom Ranma knew to be the mothers of the other killed boys were crying and were being comforted by their significant others, while said significant others were all glaring daggers at her. "Why did you do it, bitch?" one of them, a big Afro-American, asked, "Why did you kill our Curtis? He was just a boy…"

Murmurs and whispers spread through the room, and the Judge had to call the court room to order. Once that had happened Nabiki regarded the Caucasian woman and the Afro-American man with a look of sympathy. "My condolences, Ma'am, Sir. We tried to stop her, we really did, but it was of no use."

"Tried to stop me, Tendo? I wasn't even there!" Ranma yelled in their native tongue, only to be admonished by the Judge.

"What happened after Miss Tendo had killed James Noland?" the Judge then asked.

Nabiki looked at Judge Edkinson, and then glared at Ranma. "We, my sister and I tried to stop her. When we had overcome our shock _she_," she spat and her glare intensified, "had already caved the boy's skull in. The pool of blood was so big, we just knew the boy was already dead. It was all too surreal, and we were rooted to the spot. Then, when she tore into the other boys with all her strength my sister performed one of her martial arts techniques and tried to knock her out with her mallet."

"A mallet?" someone among the beholders exclaimed disbelieving.

"Yes, it is one of my sister's techniques," Nabiki replied with a crisp nod, "But _she_ stopped the mallet with one hand, yanked it out of my sister's hand and hammered it into Akane's sides before kicking her through a window. Akane was blown into a wall on the other side of the street, and it turned out that she had suffered twelve broken ribs, one of which had punctured her left lung, and four broken fingers on the right hand as well as two broken arms. Not to forget numerous cuts and bruises. I did not think very clearly at this point and yelled at _her_ to stop, but _she_ flicked me through the wall behind me."

"Flicked you through the wall? How do I have to understand that?" Ranma's defender asked.

Nabiki glared at the man. "You will assuredly have read the report, if not, well, I don't care about your lack of preparation," she sneered and went on before Mr Wilde could retort, "_She_ didn't even turn around when she swatted me away like a fly. Ranko is so strong that a blow at full strength would have killed me instantly. I know it's a cold comfort to the parents of the killed boys, but I am glad that she considered me negligible in these minutes, otherwise I would not be sitting here today."

"It is understandable that you feel this way, Miss Tendo," Judge Edkinson said with a nod, "But why didn't you call the police?"

"The next phone booth was Kami-sama knows where, and it would not have done any good anyway. _She_ would have _decimated_ the police forces. You saw what she did to me, she casually blew me through a wall! I am lucky to be alive! As it is, I still have a long way of recovery ahead of me." Nabiki said and glared at Ranma who glared right back.

"That's true, your honour," Mr. Burke spoke up, "The initial check-up at the General Hospital revealed several fractures, minor spinal damage, broken shoulder blades and ribs, a broken nose and head-trauma. Quite the list, and one of the reasons I demand limiters for Ranko Tendo! She is a dangerous mutant that needs to be locked up, and I will prove it!"

"Would you agree with this assessment, Miss Nabiki Tendo?" the Judge questioned.

"Absolutely." Nabiki replied with conviction.

"Backstabbing bitch!" Ranma hissed out in Japanese.

"You'll soon find out who the bitch is when you are where you belong, _Ranko_, behind bars!" Nabiki hissed back.

"No further questions." Mr. Burke interposed smoothly.

"Very well. Do you wish a cross-examination, Mr. Wilde?" Judge Edkinson asked.

Ranma's defender looked up from his notes. "Not at the moment, your honour. But I reserve the right to do so later."

"Very well. Miss Nabiki Tendo, you may leave the witness stand. Guards, lead Miss Ranko Tendo back to the witness stand."

-.-

Ranma slowly walked up to the witness stand. Her mind was in utter turmoil, and she could not focus at all, her head seemed to be filled to the brim with cobwebs. Where she had thought that she would be cleared within hours once the real trial had begun it now looked as if the prosecution, the jury and at least the beholders believed that cock and bull story about her being a cold-blooded murderer.

Murmurs spread through the court room as she walked down the aisle, and had she looked left and right she would have seen a lot of hate-filled faces.

"Foreign murdering bitch!"

"Mutant!"

"Turns into a male!"

"Disgusting freak!"

"Dirty mutant!"

Those were but just a few of the derogatory comments used by the beholders, and the Judge had to slam his hammer down a few times to re-establish order even after Ranma had taken her seat.

"Your honour, a committee of our best doctors and psychiatrists evaluated Miss Ranko Tendo. First off, due to her being a high-calibre martial artist the lie-detector proved to be completely useless. Miss Tendo has such control over her body that the effectivity of the lie detector is below zero." Mr. Burke explained with a shrug.

"However, our specialists subjected her to thorough testing and came to the conclusion that she is unstable, which stems from her gender confusion due to her mutant ability. Otherwise she is absolutely fit for trial, our opinions prove it. Miss Ranko Tendo is a danger to society, any society, and after we have proven her guilt you, the jury, will hopefully come to the conclusion that she has to be locked away forever. Preferably in solitary confinement in the Vault." the prosecuting attorney concluded.

"Objection, your honour!" Ranma's defender called out. "What about the fact that my client claims to be Ranma Saotome? That has never been investigated!"

"Your honour, if I may…" Mr. Burke exclaimed as he got to his feet.

"You may." the Judge allowed.

"Mr. Wilde, we have conducted investigations, thorough investigations. According to the Japanese Ranma Saotome is an alias of Ranko Tendo's mutant form, and there is no evidence that points to the contrary. Soun Tendo confirmed that his niece used this alias during her stay in Nerima, Tokyo, and Nodoka Saotome confirmed this as well. All official records claim that Ranma Saotome is nothing but a fiction, at least nowadays."

"_Nowadays_, Mr. Burke? Could you expand on that?" Mr. Wilde inquired.

"But of course, dear colleague. Ranma Saotome _was_ the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome, but he died at age six during a training accident. Genma Saotome, the husband of Mrs. Nodoka Saotome, took Miss Ranko Tendo, who had lost her parents early on, under his wings with the permission of the head of the Tendo clan. He took her on a training trip and raised her as his own, probably to replace his dead son. Genma Saotome taught her the martial arts she knows, which I am sure he regrets now verily." Mr. Burke explained with a sad expression.

"I am sure my husband does." Nodoka said coldly from among the beholders.

The prosecuting attorney nodded. "Miss Tendo here had personal problems due to her mutant ability, and Genma Saotome allowed her to use the name of their deceased son for her other form out of the pure goodness of his heart. Most probably because he believed to see some of his dead son in the mutant form of the accused. But the accused, Ranko Tendo, is _not_ the Saotome's child. This here is a young woman, a _mutant_ and a murderer. The first two are facts, the third I will prove. I will prove beyond a doubt that Ranko Tendo killed five of our citizens in cold blood."

"No! It's all a lie! I am Ranma Saotome!" Ranma exclaimed intently, "And I didn't do nothing! And it gotta be Nabiki who did sumthin' to my records!"

"You did not do _any_thing, Miss _Tendo_? Even after four months you still claim the same nonsense? And you claim that your cousin did something to your records? A girl who is not even out of highschool?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she did it. And I sure as hell didn't do anything, and that I sure as hell gonna claim, even after four months of hell in your custody." Ranma spat defiantly.

"So, so. You still refuse to admit the truth, I see. Then how do you explain that we found the blood of the victims on your clothes, hmm? Do you have an explanation for this?"

Ranma glared at the tall man. "I told ya a thousand times, whoever drugged me musta put those clothes on me ta frame me! I wasn't even there in that damned McDonalds, and if ya had checked my stomach ya would have seen!" she exclaimed heatedly.

"Bullshit, you perverted monster! You had not eaten anything before you killed those boys! Was that the reason you killed them? Because they interrupted your meal?" Akane yelled.

"N-No… I wasn't there, Akane! Ya gotta believe me. It wasn't me! Someone's tryin' ta frame me!" Ranma exclaimed, begging her fiancée to believe her.

Akane was about to yell back, but Mr. Burke stopped her with a smile as he got back to his feet. "So, someone is trying to frame you, Miss Tendo. Someone must have put the clothes on you to do so and they dropped you in the alley you were found in," he mocked, "And who should have done this? One of those rivals of yours you mentioned? The hard working employees of the NYMAT?"

Mr. Burke paced in front of Ranma and shook his head, his dispassionate gaze finally coming to rest on the redhead. "Well, we went to the trouble and checked their alibis, even those of your so-called rivals. Their alibis are all airtight. We even checked the crime scene a dozen times, because we take stories about impostors seriously with mutants like Mystique running around unchecked. Clones? Don't make me laugh. No one has the technology to pull off what you want to make us believe. This is 1994, not the year 2100!

"But we will play this little game of yours, Miss Tendo. Assuming this technology existed, who would have an interest in framing you? Who would have the opportunity, the money, and most of all, the access to this technology? Face it, a clone of you is an impossibility."

Mr. Burke continued to pace until he came to a stop in front of Ranma. "We even checked your delusional stories, Miss Tendo, but the evidence all pointed us to a simple fact: that you are guilty as hell. No one but you killed those boys, and I am going to prove it, Miss Tendo. I am going to prove that you are a monster that needs to be locked up until the cows come home!" he said and walked over to his seat where he sat down.

"BUT I AM INNOCENT! AND I AM NOT TENDO BLOODY RANKO! I AM A _GUY_ CURSED TO TURN INTO A GIRL CAUSE OF A MAGICAL CURSE!" Ranma bellowed in Japanese, causing confusion among the beholders except for her parents and the Tendos.

The translator did his job and translated what Ranma had screamed, and murmurs spread through the beholders. Judge Edkinson looked sternly at Ranma. "Miss, control yourself. I will not tolerate such behaviour in my court room, and your claims to be 'magically cursed' have been refuted. Your enhanced healing and your ability to change genders with application of the appropriate agent label you as a mutant. So stop this nonsense. Mr. Burke, please proceed."

Ranma fell silent and shook her head. She could hardly believe what was happening to her. The whole world had turned on her, and that after all the good she had done. All her good deeds, and her own family and as-good-as-family believed _that_ of her because of some so-called and clearly fabricated evidence? Why? Why were they so quick to abandon her? Was she nothing more than a tool that was thrown away when it had apparently lost its purpose, when it became too bothersome to 'attend to'? A prize that had lost its value? Didn't she mean more to them? Obviously not. And that realisation depressed Ranma a great deal.

Mr. Burke grinned due to Ranma's slumped posture. That the redhead had apparently given up would make it even easier for him.

"Your honour, I will now prove that Miss Tendo was at the crime scene despite her claims to the contrary. We questioned Mr. Hughes, one of the promoters of the NYMAT1994. He confirmed that Miss Tendo signed the red tape, but according to him she left his office after they were done. This concurs with the testimonies of Mr. Schaeffer and Miss Clark. They would be willing to testify, your honour, but their duties keep them occupied. In fact, Mr. Schaeffer and Miss Clark are currently abroad due to their duties. Thus we decided that their statements would be sufficient."

"Very well, Mr. Burke. Seeing that the evidence is indeed more than sufficient we can do without their testimonies. Continue." the Judge said.

Mr. Burke nodded and turned to Ranma, and his brown eyes drilled into her blue ones. "Your story of drugs and amnesia will not help you, Miss Tendo. Nothing was found in your bloodstream that would even suggest the presence of drugs, and I will prove that your little story of amnesia is bogus. _You_ were there, _you_ committed the crime."

"NO! I DIDN'T DO IT! I WAS _NOT_ THERE!" Ranma cried.

Among the visitors Akane jumped to her feet. "You two-faced liar! I can't believe I ever liked you!" she yelled in Japanese, her face red, her breath coming out in huffs, "We tried to help the poor boys, tried to defend them from your mindless rage, but you threw us aside like rag-dolls. Do you see this hand?"

The youngest Tendo sister held her left hand up for all to see. "You broke three of my fingers so bad that they had to be reset four times! Four times, you monster! And you broke both my arms like twigs! You hit my sister so hard that your fingerprints remained visible for hours! You…"

"Thank you, Miss Akane Tendo," said Mr. Burke after the translator had done his job, "This brings me to exhibit A…. Photographs of the finger- and handprints found on Miss Nabiki Tendo's and Akane's bodies. Our specialists from the CSI compared them to Miss Ranko Tendo's fingerprints, and the conformance is one-hundred percent. We also found traces of blood on articles of clothing of both Akane Tendo and Nabiki, and were able to allot the blood to Miss Ranko Tendo. The same goes for traces of blood of her five victims. Even Ranko Tendo's wounds matched, your honour, honoured members of the jury. This is exhibit B, photographs taken of Miss Ranko Tendo after the arrest."

He handed the photographic evidence and the reports from the CSI first to the Judge and then to the members of the jury, and murmurs started among the beholders when the faces of the jury members turned grave one after the other.

"You did it, Ranma… _Why_ did you do it? Why did you kill those boys, why did you hurt Nabiki and me so much? What did they do to you? What did _I_ do? You… You monster! I hate you!" Akane yelled, her face red with rage.

"A-Akane…" Ranma stuttered, taken aback by her fiancée's look of pure loathing.

"Don't Akane me, you bastard! I was there when you killed the poor guys for hitting on you! I don't like boys much… You were the only one," she added in a whisper, "But that was no damn reason to kill them!" she yelled.

"K-Kill? There you go too, I didn't kill no one!" Ranma exclaimed, confused. "Those guys from the NYMAT knocked me out, from there… blank screen."

"LIAR!" Akane yelled. "You joined us after you had taken care of the red tape, and we went to McDonalds to satisfy your ever hungry belly, you bastard! There…"

"Your honour," the prosecuting attorney-at-law interrupted, "I believe we have heard enough of Miss Ranko Tendo's testimony. She obviously thinks she can get away with her little amnesia show. I request that Miss Ranko Tendo be removed from the witness stand for the time of Miss Akane Tendo's testimony. Miss Akane Tendo is the cousin of the accused, and has no reason to lie. I don't believe we would be able to learn anything useful from Ranko Tendo."

The Judge nodded his head after a moment's consideration. "Very well. Ranko Tendo, you may leave the witness stand for the time being. Guards, lead her to her place and reattach the chains."

"Yes, sir." two large men in uniform replied and carried out the order without a moment's hesitation.

Ranma was led to the chair she had been placed on at the beginning of this court procedure, and before she knew it her feet and hands were shackled. The redhead was much too stumped and mortified to even think about breaking free, which would have been easy for her. She slowly shook her head. "This gotta be a nightmare… Soon I'll wake up and this will all fade away…"

"Miss Akane Tendo to the witness stand." the apparitor called out.

Ranma watched as her fiancée got up from her chair, anger obvious in her posture. The glare with which she laced Ranma could have killed lesser (wo-)men, and the redhead shrank back into her seat. Her own parents and the other Tendos had not been much better, and when she had tried to talk to them they had just looked at her with stone-faced expressions. Even Kasumi had replied "I pity you, Ranko. I cannot believe you turned out as you did. Oh, and I am sorry to say, Ranma Saotome is dead to us and the authorities."

That had given put the boot into her. Her parents, their rejection she might have been able to bear, but Kasumi… Kind, gentle Kasumi who would never hurt a fly, who would never arrogate to Judge another human being judging her like that… That had truly finished her off. She knew she was innocent, of that she was sure. She had not slipped into the neko-ken, the residual feeling of that had been missing, so something else had happened. But what?

The redhead had no idea why this was happening to her, why everyone was turning on her like that. Her family had not even made an attempt to believe her, they had looked at the so-called evidence and had Judged her. That was what gnawed at her the most, that she had been thrown away like trash in a situation where she would have needed help and support for a change. She was trapped in a nightmare with no escape, and it seemed as if the girl she loved would deliver the final nail to her coffin.

-.-

Akane Tendo had taken her seat in the witness stand, and she fought for composure. Not only was she about to be questioned as a witness in a murder trial, no, her own fiancé, better make that ex-fiancé, was the murderer in question. Had she not seen it, she would not have believed it. Ranma, he had torn those boys apart! In front of their horrified faces.

She shook her head to clear it when she heard that the apparitor was talking to her. "Akane Tendo, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?" he asked in English.

The youngest Tendo daughter nodded, but inwardly shook her head that she had to place her hand on a bible of all things. "I swear." she vowed.

The Judge and the attorneys nodded, and Akane sat down. "Miss Tendo, in which way are you connected to the accused?"

That simple question raised Akane's ire. "She's my cousin," she spat in English. "But I wish I would never see her again! I hate her! Murdering bitch, you!"

Murmurs crept through the court room, and Ranma wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. If she had not wanted to believe it before it was now painfully clear, Akane really believed she had killed those boys, and hated her. That realisation hurt Ranma more than anything else. She had lost what was most important to her, and it looked like she was about to lose much more.

"Thank you, Miss Tendo. But please try to keep your temper in check." the Judge reprimanded in a gentle tone.

Akane nodded, and Mr. Burke, the prosecuting attorney-at-law continued his questioning. "Miss Tendo, were you there when the incident happened?"

"Yes," Akane said and closed her eyes for a few seconds as she remembered, "I was forced to watch the whole thing. At one moment we were eating, minding our own business, and then this gang of boys began to hit on us. At first it seemed as if Ranko," she spat the name like a vile curse, "enjoyed the flirting, pervert that she is, but then she pulled a complete one eighty! One of the boys had gotten insistent, granted, but then _she_," Akane emphasised the word, "went berserk when that boy laid his hand on her arm! We… We…"

"Here is a glass of water, Miss Tendo." Mr. Burke offered in a kind tone of voice.

"Thank you." Akane replied, took the glass and drank carefully.

The cooling water calmed her down, and the Tendo girl was able to continue. "We had to watch how_she_," Akane glared at Ranma, "tore into the boy like a wild animal. She literally ripped him apart until he stopped screaming, but even then she continued to beat on him, and didn't stop until she had caved his skull in! I can't believe I know this monster!"

Soft murmurs spread through the court room, and quite a lot of listeners had gone deathly pale. Many were glaring at Ranma, and the horrified girl shook her head. "No, no… I didn't do nothing! I wasn't even there!"

"Is that so, Miss Tendo?" Mr. Burke questioned in a silky voice, "It's just too bad that all McDonald's branches are monitored, isn't it? And it is just so unfortunate that the branch at New York airport had just been equipped with an advanced monitoring system. Your honour, I would like to present you with exhibit C, a video monitoring of the act."

"You may proceed, Mr. Burke." the Judge replied with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you, your honour. Apparitor, wheel the audio-video equipment in." Mr. Burke said.

"Yes, sir. Guards, you heard the prosecuting attorney-at-law." the apparitor said as he delegated said task.

The men obeyed, and not a minute later a large TV complete with video-recorder had been wheeled into the court room. Ranma watched with a feeling of surreal detachment how the TV came to live. The video-cassette showed her in full Technicolor, frozen for all to see, but it wasn't her. That _could_ not be! She hadn't even been there!

"No…" Ranma muttered. "That… That ain't me! That's gotta be some impostor!" she exclaimed in Japanese.

The Judge and the attorneys looked at the translator, who had had a very easy job up till now, questioningly. "She said that it wasn't her, that it was some impostor."

"RAN… KO!" Akane growled, eyes narrowed to slits, "I know you, you pervert, I lived with you for over two years! That _was_ you! There was no damned splitting incense, clone or such thing! You did that, you killed them, nobody else!"

"Thank you, Miss Tendo. Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now watch the recording of this gruesome incident. An incident that cannot be excused, an incident, in which five citizens of the United States of America were murdered in cold blood, murdered by no one else but… RANKO TENDO!" Mr. Burke cried, pointing accusingly at Ranma.

The court room had gone deathly quiet, and all over the room people were glaring and pointing at the redhead. Mr. Burke was satisfied. The case was going well, and the recording would be the final nail in the coffin. Justice would be served, and the brave citizens of the United States could rest a bit easier as soon as this monster in human skin had been brought to justice.

"I warn you, Ladies and Gentlemen, the scenes that you are about to see are cruel beyond your wildest imagination, but I ask of you, members of the jury, do not look away. You _must_ watch the inhumanity with which the accused acted, only then will we be able to reach a just sentence. Apparitor, show us the brutal scenes."

The Apparitor pushed a button on the remote, and the paused video-clip came to life. Ranma watched in morbid fascination how a look-alike of her methodically butchered five Gaijin boys, and that she used the Anything Goes was painfully obvious. The redhead estimated that whoever it was, she was as skilled as her, at least. Ranma was completely baffled. There were few who were as good as she was, all boasting aside, and there were even fewer who could impersonate her. What caught her attention was that the impostor took great care to avoid hot fluids, but it seemed that she was the only one to take note of said fact. That could only mean one thing. . . .

"Hey!" she exclaimed loudly as soon as the clip was over, "That's gotta be the mirror clone! Hasn't anyone else seen how she tried ta stay clear of hot fluids?"

Confusion reigned among the beholders, but the translator didn't even bother to translate what has assumed was nonsense. "It is of no relevance, your honour. Some nonsense about clones and hot fluids."

The prosecuting attorney snorted. "Nonsense indeed. That has been ruled out by the investigation."

"Indeed, Mr. Burke," the Judge agreed and looked grave, "The evidence is very damning, Miss Ranko Tendo. You were there, you had the opportunity and whatever motif. I can not and will not believe your story about clones." he concluded sternly.

Akane reacted even more volatile. "Ranko, you perverted, murdering freak! Did it slip your sick mind that the clones _stayed_ in the mirror?" she shouted in Japanese, "It's all your fault! When will your sick and twisted mind get it? You killed those boys, and I hope you rot in hell for it!"

Ranma reared back as if slapped. "A-Akane…"

"Don't you Akane me! You lost the right when you killed those boys, and I hope you become someone's bitch in jail!"

"Thank you, Miss Akane Tendo," Mr. Burke said evenly, his face a mask of professionalism, "No more questions, your honour."

"Very well. Mr. Wilde, do you wish a cross-examination?" Judge Edkinson asked.

Ranma's defender, who was at the present digging through his notes, looked up. "Err, not at the moment, your honour."

The Judge nodded. "You may leave the witness stand, Miss Akane Tendo."

Akane nodded and walked to her seat. Nodoka watched her almost-daughter-in-law and was hard pressed to keep her tears in. Now she would never get grandchildren from this fine young woman, all her dreams were destroyed. Destroyed by this honourless ronin, who, shamefully, bore a strong resemblance to herself. Nodoka blessed the Kami that Soun had agreed to Nabiki's plan to make her ex-son's identity of Ranko Tendo his sole identity. She had not asked how the young woman had done it, but she had spared them a great deal of dishonour. Family honour was everything to her, and what did she care if her own flesh and blood rotted away in jail if their slate was clean?

They could have more children at any given time, especially now that Genma would not be allowed to go away on training trips any longer. They had all seen what the outcome of these trips was. Genma had inadvertedly created a monster, and that would not be repeated. Their next child would turn out way better, and that was that. But most important, their family honour was intact. The damage to the Tendo's family honour would be minimal, seeing as 'Ranko Tendo' was nothing but a distant cousin whose parents had died early on. No one would mention the name Ranma Saotome in her presence ever again, and those who did would get a taste of live steel.

She would not have thought that the trial would be this hard on her, and she barely kept her composure through all this. Her s… ex-son-turned-ex-daughter looked at her with pleading eyes as she was led up to the witness stand, but Nodoka just put on her coldest mask and stared right back at Ran… ko with contempt and disappointment. She had not accompanied Akane and Nabiki to America the first time, but deep inside they wished she had. Maybe she could have made a difference, but that was now irrelevant. The damage was done, but they had assured through Nabiki that it would not fall back on them. Ranma Saotome was dead, he had ceased to exist after age six, according to official records. Only Ranko Tendo was real as proved by the records, and she would be disowned and banned from the Tendo Clan, never to return to Japan.

At first, when they had gotten word that Ranma had committed the crime they had hoped against hope that he had not done it. But they had been presented with indisputable evidence in form of the video-cassette and the other exhibits today, and the appropriate actions would be taken. Not here and now, honour forbade it. It was better if her ex-son served his sentence in the guise of Ranko Tendo anyway, this way the blame would not fall back on them.

And what did they care if their perjury ever came to light? Nabiki had conducted a thorough research before coming to America, and their perjury wouldn't bar their testimony at all. The laws of the USA even protected them in this case, seeing as it was the Prosecutors office that decided if they wanted to prosecute. And that was not something you did to your witnesses from overseas. More important, the issue was not if Ranma was a Saotome or not, but if he did kill the poor children or not. With the evidence presented by the prosecution that question had been answered.

Nodoka knew that her ex-son-turned-ex-daughter had demanded a DNA test prior to the trial to prove that she was no Tendo, but Judge Edkinson had shot that down quickly. Due to the evidence and the proper paper-work, or rather the records Nabiki had had created he deemed that completely unnecessary. Which was good. The minimal press-coverage in their homeland was also to their advantage, and due to the fact that all possible witnesses to the contrary were in Japan and not likely to come to Ranma's aid and they were all set. Besides, even they would not be able to prove that Ranma was a Saotome, which was simply due to the fact that they had only known her ex-son for somewhat over two years. So who could claim that Ranma_was_ a Saotome if they had no idea who or what he had been before coming to Nerima? Their slate was clean, and that was that.

To Nodoka, her son was dead, and anyone who asked would receive this answer. That sorry excuse for a human being by the name of Ranko Tendo could well rot in prison for all she cared. She had no daughter, never had. Ranma, her son, had died, that was that. And what better than to leave the dead buried?

-.-

Ranma on her part couldn't understand why this was happening to her. Everyone was abandoning her, first Akane, now her mother. They had only visited her once during the time she had spent in custody, and had made it painfully clear that they believed in her guilt. Taking the video into account she had to admit that it looked damn convincing, but had they all forgotten the odd and sometimes bizarre happenings that occurred around her? Had the clone, and it had to have been one, been so damned convincing?

Nabiki had hurled the explanation as to why they believed that of her right into her face. Saffron. There and then she _had_ killed, even if to save a life. They apparently believed that the stress from that in conjunction with the happenings at the failed wedding, her failure to acquire the cure at Jusenkyo and a severe case of gender disorder had driven her over the edge. Ranma Saotome had finally succumbed to the pressure of dealing with multiple fiancées, rivals, challenge and every other oddity in her life and had suddenly gone on a killing spree when some boys hit on her. Yeah, sure. How bloody likely. But someone had made it look this way, and he or she had been good enough to convince even her friends and family. Wait, make that ex-friends and ex-family.

Soun Tendo didn't even meet her eyes, and Nabiki looked at her with just as much loathing as Akane. Her mother looked at her with so much disappointment and anger that it hurt to even meet her eyes. And Kasumi, who had accompanied her sisters, looked at her with a pitying expression. Why? Couldn't they see that someone was trying to frame her? Her anger at them had grown in the last few months, and the thought that they believed her to be a murderer after everything she had done for them was unbearable. But as much as she tried to convince them, they didn't listen to her but chose to believe the eye-witnesses and the other evidence. Which was seemingly par for the course for her life. When in doubt, blame Ranma bloody Saotome. Just great.

"B-But I ain't done nothing! I-I would never kill anyone, y-you know that, Akane! Especially you!" the redhead pleaded.

"And what about Saffron, Ranko?" asked an icy-cold voice from among the beholders.

Ranma whirled around, and met the icy eyes of Nabiki, who still had one arm in a sling. "N-Nabiki! You know that I did that to save Akane!" she replied in Japanese.

The translator did his job, and Mr. Burke's eyes shot open. "And who is this 'Saffron', Miss Tendo? Another victim?"

"NO!" Ranma exclaimed heatedly, "That was self-defence! I stopped him ta save Akane, and ya know that full well, Nabiki!"

"That doesn't change that you killed him. Maybe you found it stimulating? The feeling that someone crumpled before your might and wouldn't get back up… Giving in to your base urges? Tell me, was it so, Ranko? How often did you dream of doing the same to Kuno, or Ryoga? Was it just an unfortunate episode that led to the demise of those boys here? Tell me!"

"N-No… I hate killing! And you know that! It's a martial artist's duty to protect, and I… I would never do that! You know me, Nabiki! Would I do something like this?" Ranma pleaded.

Nabiki met her pleading eyes with a cold glare. "The evidence doesn't lie, Ranko. Special video-cassettes like those can't be tampered with, it's real, all real. And I was there and witnessed the whole thing. I know you, and that _was_ you!"

Her glare turned freezing. "You are a killer, you bitch. A cold-blooded murderer and a honourless bitch. I hope you enjoy your stay in jail, Ranko!" she hissed venomously in their native tongue, and her face twisted into a cruel grin. "I have heard what they do to new bitches, and I hope they fuck you really hard until you cry from pain and humiliation."

The Judge and the attorneys as well as the beholders looked at the translator questioningly. "She… She said that the evidence can't have been tampered with, that the accused is a killer."

"What are you leaving out, good man?" the Judge asked dubiously.

"Err, that's not fit for a court room, your honour." the blushing man said.

"Indeed," Nabiki said in a cold tone, "And this Saffron is of no relevance to this trial, your honour, Mr. Burke. It was mortal combat outside of all legal systems, and both parties had agreed to it. Ranko did indeed save my sister, but she obviously took to killing after her first real kill."

Mr. Burke nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Thank you, Miss Tendo. That was very enlightening and proves that the accused has killed before, something to which she obviously took a liking."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Ranma hollered.

"Miss Ranko Tendo, control yourself!" the Judge exclaimed loudly. "Continue with the questioning, Mr. Burke."

Said man nodded. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, and his hand encompassed the room, "you have seen evidence that this woman," he pointed at Ranma, "a _mutant_ with the ability to change genders has killed five of our citizens in cold blood. They were boys who were hoping for a flirt, something that all boys do, and she killed them for it in a way so gruelling that words can hardly describe it." he said and let his words sink in.

"This cannot be excused, and I ask you to punish her with all the sharpness of the law. While we cannot impose the death penalty due to the current legal situation,"**'Stupid laws that don't allow to demand the death penalty,'** he thought, **'I would claim the chair for that bitch, but it looks as if the laws won't be changed soon enough.**', "I ask of you to lock her up until the sun comes crashing down. Thank you."

One look at the members of the jury told Ranma that her chances to escape this farce were below zero, and she contemplated fleeing. Her parents and the Tendos would probably fight her and try to hinder her from escaping as things looked, but she was fairly certain that she could beat them all, but that left the chance that one of the guards might get a lucky shot in. Besides, she was innocent, and the good always won in the end, right?

-.-

"Mr. Wilde, you have the word." the Judge said to Ranma's defender.

Ranma's hopes sunk even more as her so called 'defender' got to his feet. The boy, err, man, barely looked older than twenty. He had been assigned to her by the State seeing that she had not been able to afford a competent defence counsel, and Nabiki had literally spat in her face when she had asked for her help.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your honour, Mr. Burke, the defence counsel can not refute the evidence. As Miss Nabiki Tendo said, these special video-cassettes cannot be tampered with, any claim to the contrary would be pointless. I close my parol with the hope that a full confession will have a mitigating effect for my client. Thank you." Mr. Wilde said and sat back down.

"Full confession?" Ranma asked disbelieving as she looked at her defender like he was a never before seen creature, "Have you lost your mind? I am _innocent_!"

Her defender looked at Ranma with an expression of pity. "Sorry, not even I believe that after seeing the video. Just take your punishment, gal."

"You incompetent… dickless… ass-sucking son of a bitch…" Ranma ranted in Japanese, making the translator blush once again, "How dare you… You're supposed to be my defender, you're supposed to believe me! Gutless bastard!" she screamed. "You didn't even try ta defend me! What kinda lawyer are ya? Go back inta kindergarten where ya belong!"

"Am I right to assume that it was something denigratory?" the Judge asked wryly.

"Yes, your honour. Miss Tendo doubts the competence of her lawyer." the translator replied evenly.

"Well, isn't that just too bad for her?" Mr. Burke mused with a smirk.

"Mr. Burke, control yourself. Miss Tendo, as sad as I am to say this, your only alternative would be to defend yourself. Which would be pointless with the evidence we have, to be frank." the Judge said.

Ranma ground her teeth in fury. "BUT I DIDN'T DO IT!" she yelled.

"Miss Tendo, control yourself!" the Judge admonished. "Or I will be forced to remove you from my court room."

The redhead visibly reigned her temper in. "It wasn't me. That was an impostor!"

"If that's all, the jury will now resile to conduct the counsels. The hearing is adjourned until the jury has come to a decision." the Judge exclaimed, bringing his hammer down.

-.-

Ranma still had the distinct feeling that she had entered the twilight zone or a bizarre alternate reality as she was led along the aisle. Her chains clinked with every step she took and reminded her that it was all too real. She was a prisoner in a foreign country, accused of multiple homicide and without a friend in the world. Her family and friends, even her fiancée, had abandoned her, yes, had even kicked her while she was lying on the ground.

She could not understand how they could believe… _that_ of her! After everything they had survived together, after everything she had done for them… they were so quick to abandon her. Just her belief in justice kept her upright, her firm belief that good would triumph in the end.

The redhead's conviction didn't spare her the hateful glares of the beholders, and especially not those looks that hurt the most. The emotionless stares from the parents, whose faces conveyed the message 'you are dead to us' all too plainly, the loathing looks the Tendo sisters shot her, or the sad and pitying look of Mr. Tendo and Kasumi. Ranma registered with surprise how Nabiki pushed her way through the masses, Kasumi following her. For a moment Ranma believed that one angel still held true to her. That hope was painfully shattered when Ranma saw the look on Kasumi's normally so angelic face. It was stone-faced, her eyes like to chips of ice.

The brown-haired girls came to a halt in front of the redhead, and the guards paused. "I can't believe I ever welcomed you into our home. I can't believe I erred in you so much. And I can't believe that I ever considered you a sibling. I am very disappointed in you, Ranko. I had truly hoped that you were innocent, but the evidence is too overwhelming. May you get what you deserve, and may Kami-sama have mercy on your soul." she said in Japanese.

Her middle sister shook her head and glared. "Always the softie, big sis. Even when _she_ goes on a killing spree and nearly cripples Akane and me."

"I didn't do nothing, bitch. And thank you very much for blabbing about my curse. I was tested endlessly in the last four months, endured humiliation after humiliation, all thanks to you. Bet ya made good money on the side, eh?" Ranma spat back.

"If you think that was bad then wait what lies in store for you." Nabiki promised with a cold and cruel smirk.

"Oh my, you have not done something untoward, have you, Nabiki?"

"If you call getting revenge for what she did to us untoward, then yes. I sat two metres away when she slaughtered those poor boys. I was coated in their blood, you maniac," she spat at Ranma. "Do you have even an inkling of how hard it is to get blood out of silk clothes? Do you?"

Nabiki huffed. "And what did you kill them for? For asking you out on a date. I don't know you." she exclaimed and spat on the ground in front of Ranma.

Akane had followed her older sister, and Ranma could see in her eyes that she was all too happy to take up where her sister had left off. And she did.

"Not only are you a perverted bastard, but a murderer! I am glad that you will be brought to justice, Ranko, and I would be too happy if you would rot forever!" Akane spat, her eyes narrowed hatefully, "I can't believe I ever liked you, and if I see you again in ten-thousand years it would still be too early!"

Ranma had reared back from the sheer venom in Akane's voice, and didn't manage more than a few stuttered words. "A-Akane… No! I. . . ."

"You're pathetic," Nabiki spat in disgust, and shook her head, "I can't believe I misjudged you so much. Saffron could be explained away, or so I thought… But it seems you took to killing. How many bodies will be found in Nerima, you bitch? A dozen? Two dozen? Regardless, I have no further use for you. May you rot in hell."

With that Nabiki turned around on the heel and followed her sisters, leaving an emotionally crushed redhead behind. But Ranma's ordeal was not over yet. Far from it…

-.-

Ranma Saotome, currently in her identity of Ranko Tendo sat slumped in her seat in the court room 101. If the insults and accusations of the Tendo sisters had been bad, the complete ignorance she had received from her mother had been even worse. Nodoka had treated her as if she didn't exist, and any try to talk to her had been met with stubborn silence. Even Soun Tendo, cowardly and spineless would-be dignified and honourable man, had acted like a Samurai as he had ignored her completely.

Now she was sitting in that damned foreign court room, waiting for a jury composed of gaijin. Gaijin, who would decide her fate. And there they came, the decision was near…

One by one the members of the jury entered the court room and took their places. Ranma as well as everyone else had been ordered to stand up, and were allowed to sit again once the members of the jury had taken their places.

"Have you come to a decision?" the Judge asked the leader of the jury.

"We have, your honour." the woman replied.

Ranma surveyed the middle-aged brown-haired woman who had had a part in deciding over her life, over freedom or captivity. She was a normal woman, had a round and friendly face, brown eyes and looked like your average woman. Normally not someone of whom you would expect to announce a ruling that would decide someone's fate. But here she was, and would do exactly that.

"And how does it read?" the Judge asked.

The beholders held their collective breaths, and Ranma's tension grew to incredible heights. The woman unfolded a sheet of paper. "It reads as follows, your honour… guilty. All in favour of guilty."

"Thank you Madame, for your service to this country. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I thank you. This concludes the sentencing hearing. The judiciary adjourns until 15th, November when the judgment will be pronounced." Judge Edkinson exclaimed and brought his hammer down.

The middle-aged man got up from his seat, and the room followed suit. Ranma barely registered that her defender expressed his condolences and disappeared in the crowd, she was much too shaken up. She had just been found guilty by the Jury, and according to the books on legal stuff she had gotten her fingers on this meant she would be sent to prison, and for a very long time at that.

She felt completely numb as she was ruggedly pulled to her feet, and barely resisted as she was led away.

-.-

**Six weeks later**

A very disillusioned Ranma Saotome, labelled as the Raving Ronin Ranko sat in the same self seat as six weeks ago. She had used her time well, had written petitions, contacted the Japanese Embassy, had demanded new investigations and thousands of other avenues, true to her credo that Ranma Saotome didn't lose. While that was true for physical combat it seemed that she had found her betters in the legal system. She was guilty until proven innocent, and the evidence looked very damning, that she had to admit.

What she didn't understand though was why no one of her supposed friends, Ukyo, Konatsu, the Amazons and so many more Nerimans hadn't raised a single finger to help her. No one had appeared in the whole five and a half months. Not even Tatewaki Kuno, who was, as was known far and wide, obsessed with her female form. But why? Had Nabiki or someone else done something to convince all of her friends of her guilt? Heck, she would even have been happy to see the old lech. But no one had come forward to help her, no one. It really seemed as if she had lost her worth to them, and that after everything she had done for them.

But even after all that had happened to her, Ranma still believed that justice would prevail in the end. There was still the off-chance that the Judge had come to the conclusion that something was amiss, and she clung to that hope as she waited for Judge Edkinson to appear.

Her former family was here as well, parts of it anyway. Her mother as well as Soun had come, but they hadn't spoken to her, had not even looked at her. To Ranma it looked like they wanted closure, wanted to take a last look at a ghost before it took its final journey. She, she had long since given up to try and talk to them. They believed the evidence over her word anyway, but that had been the case right from the start. It hurt nevertheless, and the importance of the trial added a whole new level of betrayal. In the end she had been on her own as had always been par for the course for all her big fights, but this time it looked as if she would lose.

Her verdict was set for 2 p.m., and she still had a few minutes to reflect on the past five and a half months. That time had been a complete nightmare filled with tests, insults, ridiculing and the worst press coverage she had ever seen. They painted her as a raving monster, a renegade martial artist that killed little kids before breakfast, as a warm-up. And she hadn't been able to do anything, seeing that everyone believed in her guilt.

Her life had turned into a bloody nightmare, and the periods she had experienced hadn't been the worst. She had lived through them, but the constant verbal abuse of virtually everyone around her was wearing her out. That, and that no one believed her. Bloody lie detector had been ruled out early on due to her being a high calibre martial artist. Now thank you very much. Other ways of ascertaining if she was telling the truth had been discarded in the preliminary hearings as well, seeing as they were not 'reliable' enough.

Thus her requests to try some of those alternate methods like Hypnosis had fallen on deaf ears. The Japanese Embassy had been a huge disappointment as well. To them Ranma Saotome didn't exist, which confirmed that Nabiki had made good on her threat. Not that that would have been very difficult considering A) Nabiki's contacts and possibilities and B) her very sketchy records. And the Ronin Ranko was persona non grata to the Japanese due to her dishonourable actions, so it was unlikely that the Japanese authorities would even look for manipulations. She had virtually no one in the world, and no one had visited her the whole time. Which was something that spoke volumes about her life.

Her defender nudged her and the redhead raised her bowed head. Judge Edkinson had entered the court room, and everyone had gotten to their feet. Ranma dragged her tired body up as well. The Judge got right into it after he had allowed them to take their seats. He browsed through a stack of papers before he looked sternly at Ranma.

"Miss Tendo, I have taken great care to examine the proofs brought before me by the prosecution. I have read every single opinion, report and God knows what. But everything pointed me to one conclusion: that you are guilty."

Excited murmurs spread through the court room, and a few among the beholders even cheered. Derogatory comments ensued, and the Judge had to re-establish order.

"Ranko Tendo, in light of the evidence with which I have been presented I have no other choice but to proclaim you guilty on all accounts. I sentence you to 350 years of prison, to be served in the State Prison Ryker's Island. The case is closed."

Ranma continued to watch disbelieving. The true meaning of the happenings didn't register in her mind when the Judge brought his hammer down, it was all too unreal. Her last hope to receive justice had been shattered, and her insides had turned to ice. She bowed her head and shook it slowly, tears escaping from her eyes.

"No, this cannot be… This must not be. I did not do it, why is that happening to me?" she muttered, and raised her head to look over at her mother and Soun.

"Ranko Tendo," came the Tendo patriarch's grave voice just in this moment in their native tongue from among the beholders, "As of now you are banished from the Tendo clan. We have no part in your dishonour and will not acknowledge your existence. You are from now on and forever dead to us. So sayeth I, Soun Tendo, head of the Tendo clan. May Kami-sama have mercy on your soul, Ronin Ranko."

Ranma's disbelief rose to astronomic heights as a stone-faced Soun walked out of the court room, but that was nothing on the expressions of her parents. Nodoka looked at her with a face that seemed to be carved out of stone, and the redhead noted that she looked profoundly disappointed. Her cold look could have frozen hell a thousand times over. And it was her that delivered the final blow.

"From now on and forever you are dead to us. May you get what you deserve." the Saotome matriarch said solemnly, using Japanese.

Ranma watched with tears streaming down her face as her mother followed the Tendos. She could barely wrap her mind around the concept that she had been declared ronin for all intents and purposes, that was of secondary importance. Much worse was that her own mother had abandoned her, had believed she could have committed murder in cold blood rather than standing by her side.

She didn't react as one of the guards rudely grabbed her arms. The redhead was forcefully dragged out of the court room, out of her old life and into a new and uncertain one. All the while Ranma muttered that this had to be a bizarre nightmare from which she would wake up soon. But Ranma Saotome should all too soon learn that the happenings had been bitter reality…

**to be continued**…

******Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. **

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board for their continued great help. **

**And last but not least, many thanks to my beta for this story, Ordieth. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

A/N: I know some of you might say that the behaviour of the Saotomes and Tendos towards Ranma is a bit extreme, but to them Ranma committed the crime. The evidence is simply crushing, and they have to make do with the facts. Add to that, that Akane and Nabiki were there when 'Ranma' killed those boys. Hope that explains their behaviour.

The next chapter will highlight Ranma's stay in prison and the bonding with the symbiote. Be warned, it will be one of my darker chapters.

Pertaining the update status on my other stories, I will update 'Chaotic Rebirth' on Monday. 'A legend reborn' will be updated on one of the next two Thursdays, and 'Betrayal's Reward' as soon as I have enough material.

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter: **

Howard Russell, Lost on the Info super high..., Silverscale, Martrex, Tuisto, ss4-link, Tatsu-ZZmage, AzureSky123¸ James Axelrad, ranger5, sieti, Dumbledork, Xtor49, DarkRubberNeck, Wonderbee31, sadfru, ..., Deus-Ex-Machina, Lord Oberon, Jago Li Son Shiranui, trunks and goten, Venom LS

**Revision notes: **

I made several changes to the original version.

- Ranma won't serve the sentence in the women's prison Assn, but on Ryker's Island in a maximum security cell. John Tannius and a few others pointed out that that would be where he would end up, considering his 'mutant powers' and the brutality of the crime

- it was pointed out that Genma would never have received entry permit due to his criminal record, thus I removed his part from this chapter and rewrote those scenes

- the DNA issue that many complained about has been resolved. I originally planned to get back to that in a future chapter, but you folks are right, here's as good a place

- the perjury issue has also been dealt with

- it will be revealed in future chapters as to why none of the NWC stepped forward to help Ranma

- finally, as for the DNA issue pertaining the Clone, remember, this is the Marvel Universe. as seen in the 'Clone Wars' saga, the clones here are absolutely identical to the original, fingerprints and everything. But more to that in the Q&A section and future chapters.


	3. Encounters

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

******Chapter 3: Encounters**

**The Kuno Mansion**

Kodachi Kuno ws in an exceptionally good mood. She had just read the newest edition of the New York Times, and had come to know that her plan to get her Ranma-sama for herself had worked out better than she could ever have hoped for.

"So the red-haired harridan is out of the way, and our press doesn't even give it more attention than making it into a footnote. What a fitting end for the slip of a girl who dared to claim my Ranma-sama. OHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"Sister mine," Tatewaki Kuno drawled as he stepped into the kitchen, a look of annoyance on his face, "doth thou have to proclaim your contentment, or should it rather be named malicious joy, so loudly as that it pains the Kami's ears? What in His name art thou so happy about?"

The younger Kuno sibling chuckled. "Nothing, brother. Just a little something the press reported. It might have to do with the harridan you so fancy." she said gleefully as she threw the newspaper onto the table.

Tatewaki sat down at the breakfast table and helped himself to a generous helping. next he grabbed the New York Times with a scoff and scanned the front. Moments later his eyes bulged. "Ronin Ranko convicted... Ranko Tendo… My pigtailed goddess… A mutant? And convicted for quintuple murder… No, it cannot be! Not my pigtailed goddess! My goddess is no murderer! But what is this? Witnesses… Akane Tendo… Nabiki Tendo… My fierce tigress Akane Tendo accused my pigtailed goddess? How can this be? And why do I learn of this only now? SASUKE!" he bellowed.

The diminutive ninja appeared in front of his master with a poof. "You bellowed, Master?"

"I did. Hath thou not claimed that..."

"Brother mine, drop your archaic way of speaking and save it for those commoners you try to bedazzle." Kodachi sneered scornfully.

"But I..."

"No buts. You can practise your corny pick-up lines in front of the mirror, but not in my presence."

Tatewaki scoffed. "Fine, little sister. The matters at hand are more pressing anyway as that I could engage in pointless squabble. But I will not forget your impudence. Sasuke,"

"Yes, Master?"

"Haven't you claimed that we wouldn't receive the oversea press due to delivery problems? Problems that would persist for a few months still?"

"Would you believe me if I said the problems are solved, Master?" Sasuke asked timidly.

Tatewaki looked the fidgeting Ninja in the eye. "No," he replied and drew his bokken. "Speak, knave. What is the meaning of this trickery? Who wanted to keep me ignorant of the going-ons in New York?"

Sasuke fidgeted even more, and Kodachi brandished her ribbon. "Swimming with Midorigami, worm..." she whispered darkly.

"Do not presume to threaten the worm, my twisted sister. Sasuke, an explanation! Now!" Tatewaki demanded forcefully and brandished his bokken for emphasis.

"I knew I forgot to add the usual potions to brother dearest food. Time to correct my oversight," Kodachi muttered quietly. "Sasuke, if you breath one word it won't end well for you."

"Sasuke, don't listen to my twisted sister. You will tell me everything! Now! I have been your master longer!" Tatewaki demanded.

The sweating Ninja looked from one Kuno sibling to the other and sighed. "Master Kuno, forgive me. It was Mistress Kuno who ordered me to keep you in the dark. She threatened to use you as her unwitting guinea pig for her newest potions if I blabbed..."

"You useless little worm!" Kodachi spat hatefully.

Tatewaki whereas nodded. "How noble of you to try to keep harm away from me, Sasuke. But..."

"Forgive me, Master, but Mistress threatened me with Midorigame. It was my Ninja survival instinct that made me obey Mistress Kuno. I didn't want to end as Midorigame's chew-toy." Sasuke admitted embarrassed.

"Explain." Tatewaki demanded.

Sasuke opened his mouth, and Kodachi got up from her place at the breakfast table with her trademark laughter. "OHOHOHOHO! I do not care anyway, brother dearest. The coup has already happened, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Laughing insanely the younger of the Kuno siblings walked out of the room. "Now to find my Ranma-sama. The daredevil of a luce still has to return from his training trip. Methinks over four months is more than long enough. Yes, it is time that my Ranma-sama returns to me."

"I do not care about that foul sorcerer you so moon after. The fate of my pigtailed one is much more important," Tatewaki replied, dismissing his sister with a wave of his hand. "Now, Sasuke, you will tell me everything. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master," a sweating Sasuke replied. The diminutive Ninja was very relieved when his Mistress disappeared from the room moments later. Sighing he sat down on a stool across from his Master. "You were right, Master. Mistress demanded that I keep the oversea newspapers away from you and make up a story that would cover it up. She didn't want you to know about the fate of Miss Ranko Tendo, who is really-"

"The utter gall of my twisted sister to trick me like that! And to use my very own servant… This is an outrage beyond imagination! My poor pigtailed goddess, thrown into the dank dungeons of a foreign nation, without hope, without friends, without me! That must not be!"

"W-What do you want to do, Master? It's already too late. Your goddess has already been thrown into prison! There's nothing you can do, Master."

"On the contrary, Sasuke. What your feeble mind fails to comprehend is the greatness of my own! I, Tatewaki Kuno, age nineteen, the rising star on the Kendo firmament will not rest until I have freed my pigtailed goddess! I will set the heavens in motion to accomplish my goal, and the vast resources of the Kuno family will aid me!"

Chuckling could be heard from the door. "And that is where you are wrong, brother dearest." Kodachi said, grinning amusedly. It was the type of grin that made you want to run away really fast, and Sasuke did just that.

Tatewaki whereas whirled around and glared at his sister. "What do you mean, wench?"

Kodachi chuckled even darker. "Remember that quarterly health check-up you underwent two months ago? Well, it was actually a bit more than that. It was coupled with a psychiatric evaluation, and guess what they found?"

"That I am as healthy as ever! The mighty Blue Thunder is a picture-perfect case of perfect physical and mental health!" Tatewaki boasted and flexed his muscles in a pose.

"On the contrary, brother dearest. The dear doctors found enough evidence to declare you legally insane." Kodachi chuckled.

"WHAT! How can that be?" Tatewaki raged, his face red with anger.

"Simple. Your actions over the last few years were more than grounds enough to rectify this decision. And the best is, you can't even refute it, brother dearest. It is only for me that you haven't been placed into immediate psychiatric care, and that is pending." Kodachi replied with a sinister grin.

"You… You wench! Twisted beast! You planned all this, didn't you? You wanted to get rid of my pigtailed girl! Admit it!" the older Kuno sibling spat furiously.

"I did," Kodachi admitted with a smug grin. "And it was my master-piece. I studied the harlot's social environment thoroughly, brother dearest. I found out about her friends, her allies, her weaknesses. And I used them to my advantage.

"I knew that those plebeian Tendos would stab the harlot in the back were they presented with sufficient incentive, and the clone of your darling pigtailed girl did a wonderful job, thanks to my commands.

"But I must admit, that those barbaric Amazons were called back to their homeland was just too perfect. Yes, I, Kodachi Kuno, was truly blessed with the luck of the brave and bold, for that old Amazon by the name of Kuh Lon could have complicated things verily. Alas, such a shame that I had no chance to employ my deportation plans for them. Well, maybe later. Postponed is not abandoned."

The leotard-clad girl switched to a cross-legged position on her chair, which made Tatewaki gag. Kodachi whereas found dark amusement in taunting her brother. "But that was just the beginning. I just happened to send that old pervert that lives at the Tendo dojo a flyer that advertised the advantages of the Riviera. Do you have an idea how fast the perverted old man had vacated the premises? Sasuke said it took him no more than two minutes!" she crowed.

"Next I dealt with that commoner Kuonji… The okonomiyaki girl. It was so easy to lure her and her assistant or whatever one wants to call it away. I just had to pull a few strings and an invitation was extended to her for the annual okonomiyaki championship in Osaka. Which just happened to take place during the time the harlot was taken into custody. Oh, how sad! And do you know what the best is? No? Seeing as you will never guess in a million years, brother dearest, I will tell you already.

"I arranged that the pizza girl would win the tournament. As you well know, we have many business associates in Osaka, and many owe us favours. It was so embarrassingly easy, brother dearest! The commoner was busy with follow-up tournaments for nearly the whole time the tramp spent in custody and on trial, and all the money she made won't help her a bit in saving her friend. Isn't it ironic? All that money, and she can't do a thing to help the harridan!"

"Bitch!" Tatewaki spat and began to massage his temples as a dizzy feeling began to set in.

"On the contrary, brother dearest. Our parents were already married when I was conceived, as you should well know."

"Then you should have ended as a wet spot on the sheets, vile demoness!" Tatewaki spat and closed his eyes for a few seconds after his outburst.

Kodachi chuckled. "Your insults are as unimaginative as ever, brother. Oh, and the harridan's so-called friends at the Tendo dojo… They all believed all too readily that she had committed the crime. Commoners," She said, shaking her head. "Simple-minded, low-bred fools. But it's lucky that they are, it made it so easy for me!"

"You… You demoness! I cannot believe that I am related to you by blood. I will-"

"Do nothing, brother dearest. Don't you feel the lethargy spreading through your mind? Yes, soon you won't even remember this conversation. You will continue to pester the common tramp Akane Tendo like a love-crazed dog while I will conquer my Ranma-sama. It is just a question of time until he returns from the training trip Nabiki Tendo said he is on…"

Tatewaki did his utmost to fight off the effects of the potion that was spreading through his system, but it was to no avail. A grinning Kodachi snatched the newspaper from his numb fingers and threw it into the trash can. "Welcome back to your little dreamworld, brother dearest. Dream on while others realise their dreams in the real world!" Sshe exclaimed and began to laugh like a madwoman.

Little did she know that it would be a very long time until Ranma Saotome should return from the 'training trip'.

-.-

**Côte d'Azur, France**

A certain old pervert by the name of Happosai had really had the time of his life in the last few months. Yes, the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes was well and truly happy. That flyer had been an honest to goodness godsend. He had many young and beautiful girls to fondle, the local authorities had nothing on him and the climate was much to his liking. Everything was perfect, yes, but… But he did miss a certain gender-changing martial artist by the name of Ranma Saotome. The one he considered his sole true heir.

Happosai sighed and absently kicked a pebble lying in his path away. He had made good use of this perfect, sunny day and had just returned from a little trip to liberate some silky darlings, something that always lifted his mood. But not so today.

The feeling of homesickness, the want to fondle a certain Ranma-chan was getting stronger and stronger by the day. "Maybe I should really return home." the old man mused to himself as he walked through the narrow alleys of Nizza, a fine old town in the south of France.

The old man idly sipped a soda as he strolled around and enjoyed the warm afternoon sun, his eyes taking in every detail. It was not as if he needed energy for a few more hours to come, but one could certainly appreciate the tiny skirts those beautiful French girls displayed. His eyes fell on a large news rack by chance, and all the gorgeous females around him immediately lost any and all importance.

"My God…" Happosai breathed, and the soda can clattered to the ground from numb hands as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "What have they done? What have those idiots done?"

The old man grabbed the latest edition of the New York Times almost robotically, and paid for it without even looking at the salesperson, a drop-dead gorgeous brunette. He turned on his heel just as robotically and walked mechanically and aimlessly until he shook his head as if to clear it.

His eyes never even blinked as his mind tried to process the new, almost surreal seeming information. Anger bubbled up inside of him when he came to the realisation the it was naught but bitter reality, and he was hard pressed to control the smouldering inferno his anger turned into. The only visible manifestation of his fury was the fact that he left sizzling footprints behind. Shaking his head in rage Happosai sat down on a remote bench in the cool shadow of a church.

"Those idiots… How can they believe that of Ranma… After everything the boy has done for them… Evidence, huh? Idiots! Evidence, regardless how damning, can be faked or constructed. Soun, Genma, didn't I teach you anything? Didn't I teach you to look underneath the underneath?" he raged and sighed in abject frustration. "But running away was apparently easier than fighting and standing by the boy's side. My students are such a disappointment! But that even the Tendo girls turned on him… And to trap him in female form… Not that I mind that, on second thought. But what were you thinking, you idiots? Declaring him ronin and leaving him, no, her, to rot in one of the worst prisons the States have to offer of all things…"

Happosai rubbed his chin. "It seems I have no choice. I must travel to America. I will aid my best student in his hour of need… Or should that be _her_ hour of need? Mmmmhh, just thinking about snuggling into Ranma-chan's ample bosom makes me feel ten years younger."

"Yes!" Happosai exclaimed with determination burning in his eyes and jumped to his feet, startling several doves into a hasty retreat. "I will travel to America, and I will help my Ranma-chan! You just wait, Cologne, he'll be my heir, not yours!"

-.-

**Village of the Joketsuzoku, China**

"Achoo!" Cologne sneezed, wiping her nose. "I could swear someone is talking about me. Odd. I have a _very_ bad feeling all of a sudden, and my instincts tell me it has to do with son-in-law. Just what has that boy gotten into now?"

° _Xian-Pu, we will leave the village as soon as the protocol allows. Something has happened, I can sense it in my bones. And it does not bode well._ °

Xian-Pu nodded vigorously. ° _I will be all too glad to leave. I hate celebrating the Rite of Renewal. It's a stupid tradition that takes up way too much time, and great-great-grandmother Foe Hn, cousin Jel Li and Elder Sci Sor just have to have their birthdays during that time. Not to forget the stupid Musk and their yearly and annoying attempts to win our warriors over by attacking us during the Rite, stupid idiots! I wasted more than enough time as is. Four whole months, hibachan! Four months without my husband! The sooner we leave, the better!_ °

° _Agreed. We will fetch Mu Tzu and leave at sunrise. Something is very wrong, I can feel it in my old bones…_ °

-.-

**Ryker's Island Prison, round about three months later**

Ranma Saotome was living in a waking nightmare. Where she had been used to move about as freely as the wind she was now confined to a tiny amount of space. The maximum security section she was currently 'residing' in was an underground complex that was separated from the rest of the prison by huge, thick, triple steel doors and elevators that only worked with access provided from both above and below at the same time. No one had tried to visit her, with two exceptions. Exceptions that had proven that she hadn't been forgotten completely by the outside world, for she had received mail from both the Amazons and Happosai.

The latter had even tried to intrude into the maximum security section, but a gorgeous female guard stationed at the elevator had shot this plan to hell. After that incident security had been tripled, according to Happosai's letter. He even admitted that he was ashamed of himself, seeing that his faux pas had led to an upgrade of security to a level that even he couldn't penetrate without resorting to raw force. And the old master admitted that he didn't know for sure if he could go up against all the guards in their armoured suits.

After the failed incursion he had written the letter. The old Master had used a code that only someone trained in the higher arts of the Anything Goes could decode, words hidden underneath the underneath. Happosai had assured her that he believed in her innocence, and that he was trying to find proof for it. He had even used some nice cuss words to insult her ex-family, which had really warmed her heart. And even if the letter originated from the perverted Grandmaster Happosai, it had been reassuring to find that someone believed you after all.

Then there had been the letter from the Amazons. According to the letter Cologne had sent they had tried everything to gain an entry permit, but nothing had worked. The old mummy had hinted that she would try to get into the country anyway, but that wasn't that important to Ranma. What was, was that the Elder and Shampoo believed in her innocence.

It gave her hope where there hadn't been hope before. Her existence was pitiful enough anyway, she could well do without the hopelessness of her situation. Her inmates were a nightmare, the food just as much, and she had learned fast that only the strongest and toughest survived in this hell-hole.

Despite her skills at adaptation she had still no idea how she had survived her first three months in that hellhole of a prison. At first she had protested and ranted against the injustice of it all, had loudly claimed that she was innocent. But she had had to realise all too soon that no one cared. Worse, the others didn't just give a damn, they had downright revelled in her misery.

Not just that. Ranma had had to learn that Nabiki's prediction had been accurate. Fresh meat, and especially someone as pretty as her, was something that was very much appreciated around here. Normally that wouldn't have been much of a problem for her, strong as she was, but her so called almost-family had had to blab about the true extent of her capabilities at her farce of a trial. Her views of her ex-family and ex-almost-family had taken a severe nose-dive in the last three months.

Not only had their little revelations brought her the limiters she was wearing, no, they had practically taken her manhood away with the stunt they had pulled. But it hadn't just been them. Seemingly everyone bar Happosai and the Amazons, Shampoo and Cologne anyway, had abandoned her. But they wouldd regret it one day. She would _never_ forgive them, and if they begged her on their knees once she had proven that she was innocent she would laugh in their faces.

The Kami hadn't damned her completely, though. The limiters she was wearing around her wrists didn't work on her seeing that they were designed for mutants, humans with something called the X-gene. But due to the fact that their purpose was to block said gene it was not as efficient as its designers had hoped for. In fact, due to the fact that she was no mutant it had no effect at all. Not that Ranma would ever reveal it.

But they had taken her manhood away, and that had been a severe blow. Everyone believed her to be a hot chick, and everyone who had the chance tried to grope her. It was downright gruelling. That was the exact reason why she had spent most of her time in solitary confinement seeing that she had beaten up more than one groper. Not that she cared. She preferred solitary confinement over this kind of attention any day. As for company, the books she could get her hands on might be her only company in her tiny cell as she tried to read up on what would be needed to get a new trial, but they were the preferred company.

She had long since lost hope that she would miraculously get free, that the judiciary would claim they had erred, and her anger and resentment grew by the day. Her innocence had been stripped away from her in more ways than one, and she would get her revenge for it. At least she hadn't been raped, neither by the male guards nor her inmates, but it had been bad nonetheless.

They had tried to gang up on her many a time, and she had been forced to drop her 'I-don't-hit-girls-credo' rather fast, for there were more than enough women around here who had tried something. Only her still superior strength and toughness had saved her on more than one occasion, and she had gotten a reputation for being a big no-no in no time.

The prison and her inmates had forced her to grow up fast, and all her illusions about life had been driven out of her head. Her carefree and optimistic outlook on life had died a slow death, and her life had taken the worst nose-dive when she had had to beat an inmate half to death to stop her from trying to rape her.

That had been one of many turning points. In the beginning she had thought that she could keep her ideals, her views on the world, but the prison had shattered it all. She had seen firsthand that only the strongest survived in here, not the naive and innocent. And she wanted nothing more than to survive so that she would get the justice she craved, not the justice bestowed upon her by the trial.

Due to this 'justice' she had undergone many changes, and she had lost her trust in the legal systems of the world. Worst of all, her identity began to slip away from her like sand that ran through one's fingers the more time she spent in prison. Seven months of being female 24/7, of periods and no one she had to prove to that she was male had rattled her. Add to that that she had to be on her guard outside of her 'cage' constantly if she didn't want to end up raped, which had steadily eaten away at her male macho persona, and it made for one unhinged Ranma Saotome.

Her hope had turned into resignation and had further evolved into anger and bitterness, feelings that had been alien to her prior to her stay in this penitentiary, as the Americans called it. But it had become her drive. Before she had always believed in the triumph of good, but the validity of this concept had obviously been limited to her ivory tower she had lived in in the long forgotten world outside prison.

Reality had crashed down on her with the weight of a celestial body, and she had realised that she would have to fend for herself if she ever wanted to achieve justice. her so called family and friends would leave her to rot here, that much had become obvious. They had stayed true to their words and silent promises. not a single letter had arrived. To them she was really dead, dead because of a crime she had not committed. And neither Happosai nor the Amazons had come up with anything useful yet. Which meant she was on her own, as so often in her life. But her time would come.

And speaking of time, she had used the time well, especially the time spent in solitary confinement, which made up the bulk of her stay at Ryker's up till now. She had trained vigorously, with a drive that bordered on obsessive. She had pushed herself harder than ever with the determination to become stronger, and she _would_ become stronger than ever. She had vowed to herself that she would become so strong that no one and nothing could ever hurt her again, and nothing would stand in her way when she finally lay the smack down on the ones responsible for throwing her into this hell.

-.-

Ranma Saotome woke up yet again, and slowly opened one eye. Noticing that it was dark he dared to open both eyes, and looked around. Oh yes, he had been moved into another cell yesterday. Something about new equipment being installed in his cell because some guy named Rhino had caused a gigantic amount of damage when he had broken out. Ranma had even been allowed to change into a male for the time being, for as long as he would share his cell with his new inmate. surprisingly the gender-change hadn't mattered much to the ex-Saotome as he had gotten so used to his female form in the past seven months that the form had become irrelevant.

It simply didn't matter to Ranma which body he wore any more, as long as he would obtain his revenge on whoever had framed him and stolen his freedom, identity and the love of his life. And he would get his revenge. Which kind of revenge he didn't know as of yet, but he was certain he would figure it out once he knew the relevant facts.

He was currently lying in a prison cell of about five square-metres, and he was bored out of his mind. Training was not possible at the moment, for his inmate, a well muscled man, was doing push-ups in front of the prison window, and he ignored Ranma completely, much to his relief. He had often prayed that what Nabiki had wished for would never come true, but the possibility existed every day. Ryker's held prisoners that were far stronger than he or possessed strange powers, and they were beasts in the truest sense of the word. Beasts who knew about the curse.

But he had chosen not to dwell on it, for he couldn't change it anyway. Not at the moment. To distract himself Ranma busied himself with surveying the other man. He was big, easily over 1.90 metres, and he had to weigh over a hundred kilos. All solid muscle, as Ranma noticed. His hair was short-cropped and of a reddish-blond, not uncommon for Americans, as he had come to know.

Ranma's head whipped around when he heard that the cell-door was opened, and in stepped a tall man accompanied by two guards. It was the director, whom Ranma knew from his admittance to this 'fine facility'. And the man wore an entirely too unpleasant grin.

"So, do you like it in this cell, ronin Ranko? Ranko, the bastard who slew those five poor boys at McDonalds... Or should I say the bitch?" he sneered with gleeful laughter in his voice. "I am sure our inmates in this block will enjoy you verily, Ranko. Cletus Kassidy, one of our notorious serial killers was very angry that he had to leave this cell. But we figured that we would start slowly. It just wouldn't do to throw you to the wolves too soon after your stay in MS, seeing that you will be our 'guest' for the rest of your life. Well, enjoy your stay on Ryker's Island, it will be the last island you will ever see!"

The director and the guards stepped out of the cell laughing, and the door snapped into the lock with a loud clang that rang with finality. Ranma hadn't even bothered to mutter denials throughout the whole one-sided 'conversation' as it wouldn't have done him any good. No one believed him anyway.

He sat down on his pallet and sighed, and just at that moment his inmate got to his feet. As Ranma had estimated, he was well over 1.90 metres, and very strong, as it looked. Not saying a word the man lay down on his own pallet and stared at the ceiling.

The raven-haired boy was not in the mood to initiate friendly conversation either. The events of yet another trying day caught up to him, and before he knew it he was sound asleep.

-.-

Ranma shot up from his slumber when a strange feeling assaulted his senses. The raven-haired boy swung his feet over the rim of his pallet and noticed that his cell-mate was standing at the window, and his posture looked as if he was expecting something to happen. The ex-Saotome was about to write his strange feeling off to a bout of paranoia, when suddenly a black wave of... something flooded through the bars.

If that wasn't enough, his cell-mate had a satisfied grin on his face, and it grew into a smirk as the black mass swirled around him. "Look out, man!" Ranma yelled in alarm, trying to save the man from whatever it was.

The taller man stopped him with a hand gesture and shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. "That's not necessary. I'm about to be reunited with someone I missed a great deal, so no worries."

Ranma had no choice but to watch in amazement how the black mass coalesced with the man in front of him. It began at his feet, and slowly crept up the lower half of his body from where it 'flowed' on. The black mass finally covered everything bar the head, and the tall man looked Ranma in the eyes.

"I am Eddie Brock, also known as Venom. We thank you for worrying about us, it shows that you still have a heart left. Speaking of heart, we gotta rip the heart of a certain spider outta his body…" the man now known as Eddie Brock exclaimed as the black mass covered his head, forming a hideous grin consisting of sharp, pointy teeth set in a gaping maw.

Next he brought both of his fists up and simply smashed them through the cell-wall, demolishing said wall completely. That was not what surprised Ranma, he could have done the same, no, it was the fact that a human being had changed into something out of a science-fiction movie.

"You Americans are weird..." he muttered as he sat down on his pallet, suddenly feeling faint.

He had not noticed that something had dripped onto his arm from Eddie Brock's alien symbiote, and wouldn't for some time.

-.-

The escape of Eddie Brock had led to a downright prison outbreak, but Ranma had stayed in his cell. Or rather, had been forced to, for he had inexplicably slipped into unconsciousness after Brock had escaped. The Saotome youth was forcefully shocked back into the world of the living an unknown amount of time later, courtesy of a splash of water to the face, changing him into a her. "Ohh my head..." the redhead complained and tried to rub her head, only to find that she couldn't.

"Hadn't I seen it with me own bleedin' eyes..." a leering voice exclaimed.

"What the hell?" Ranma asked with anger colouring her voice upon finding that she was bound.

"What a fuckin' hot babe ya make, sleepyhead. Long legs, ample talents, very curvy... Just like Poppa likes it. 'N three days of beauty-sleep just fer me... How considerate. And doncha worry yer pretty li'l head, sweetheart, soon other parts of ya are gonna hurt too!" the man said sadistically.

Ranma blinked her eyes and focussed on the speaker, who turned out to be a fellow prisoner, according to his outfit. They were in some kind of boiler room, a big, high-walled dusty room with only one exit. An exit, which was impossible to reach for Ranma seeing as she was chained to an old bed that was hidden behind an array of boilers.

The redhead was also feeling inexplicably weak, and breaking her bonds, which would normally have been child's play, was impossible. Ranma trashed futilely against her bonds, something which seemed to turn her captor on. Looking down at herself she noticed that she was already giving him a free show, for her undershirt and prison-overall were missing, leaving her just in her black briefs.

The Westerner seemed to appreciate this greatly and had already unbuckled his belt, and his pants slid to the ground to reveal his excitement. The redhead could only stare on in horror as the man kicked his pants away and stalked towards her. "Not this... Not this... HELP!"

"No one can hear ya down here, bitch! Curtis, the guard on duty, owed me. 'n he paid me back all too gladly. Was his godson 'n nephew ya killed. Wanted me ta have a real good go at ya. Said Jack, pay the bitch back. I pulled a lot o' strings ta get ya for me, and now yer mine. It's just me and ya, 'n nobody can help ya!" the man smirked.

"That can't be happening..." Ranma whispered in horror as she valiantly tried to break free, fear obvious on her face. "N-Not this... Someone's gotta help me..."

The man grinned viciously. "I can hardly wait ta find out how ya taste. One thing's fer sure, yer bio-energy tastes great!"

"Go fuck yourself, asshole!" Ranma spat defiantly, her fear turning into anger. Anger at the unseen force that seemed to want to screw her over constantly, formerly proverbially, and now quite literally. But not any longer. She wouldd survive this here somehow, and she would get outta here somehow and find out why this shit kept happening to her. And then she would clear her name and get her revenge on its way.

"Oh, so the bitch has spunk. Time ta change that." the man named Jack growled, and Ranma focussed her attention back on him, her eyes going wide at what he was doing.

For the man had picked up his belt and let it lash out. She was hit in the face, and even though it didn't hurt much the redhead was too helpless to do much of anything aside from muttering cuss words. The flap with the belt had exemplified her helplessness all too well.

All of Ranma's energy seemed to be siphoned away by some unseen force, likely by a super-power this man possessed. As much as she tried to summon her ki, it did no good. Right now she didn't possess more strength than your average woman, and she knew she couldn't overpower the man, even with the Anything Goes and even if she managed to miraculously break free. Her strikes would be far too weak against this walking mountain of muscles.

**'This is it…'** Ranma cried in her mind, **'This is what I feared ever since I got cursed. To be a powerless woman about to be raped. And I can't do shit to stop it! Someone help me please!'**

The man was near enough to stroke her face, and Ranma instinctively turned her head away when he reached out to touch her. That spurred the man on only more, and he grabbed her chin and turned it around with force. "Ya will do as I please, and ya will please me, bitch. And now ta the best part…" he leered as his right hand removed briefs with a strong tug, leaving her naked. The man's hands roamed her body appreciatively, and the redhead shuddered in revulsion and disgust. "I'll enjoy every second, bitch!" he crowed.

"NO!" Ranma cried out as she struggled in panic.

The man made move to hit her and Ranma braced herself for impact when a strange voice spoke up in her head.

– _**Adaptation process complete.**_ _**–**_ it said, but the redhead was too freaked out by the situation to pay the voice much heed, _**– Initiating defence against foreign disturbance.**_ _**–**_

Ranma's eyes shot open in surprise as a feeling of overwhelming power filled her being, more power than she had ever felt before. The energy drain stopped from one moment to the next, and the redhead felt her powerlevel climb even more. Her face showed disbelief first, then it contorted into a nasty grin, and she noticed that the would-be-rapist was staring at her wide-eyed.

"I dunno what just happened and I don't care. You are gonna pay," she said in a dead voice and tore the chains holding her apart with movements of her arms and legs. Ranma got up and laced the forty centimetres taller man standing before her with a look that put the fear of God in his heart. "And yer never gonna use _that_ again. _Ever_."

With that she brought her knee up with so much force that the genitals of the man ruptured all the way up to God-knows-where. The other prisoner began screaming his head off due to the immense pain, but Ranma was not finished. Her right leg suddenly lashed out in a devastating roundhouse kick, and the man was shot towards the far wall, only to bounce back from it with a sickening crunch. Ranma saw at first look that the man was unconscious. "Nobody rapes Ranma Saotome! Hah!"

Satisfied with how she had dealt with that monster Ranma looked down at herself. "Hmm, a lot more juice in that kick than I remember. Now ta find some clothes... Stupid asshole just had ta ruin those... And I sure as hell ain't gonna wear his. But what to do?" she asked herself as she searched the room.

The first thing she noticed was that the only door in the room, a heavy, reinforced steel-door was locked. This wasn't a problem per se, but she would have to plan her next steps carefully. **'First of all I need clothes... Then I need a plan.'** Ranma thought as she walked back to the bed where she sat down to think.

– _**Host Ranma, clothing is not a problem. And I recommend leaving the perimeter of this facility immediately.**_ _**–**_ the voice in her head said.

"Huh?" Ranma exclaimed in surprise, cocking her head left and right as she searched for the origins of the unknown voice. "Who's there? Odd, I don't see anyone."

– _**Host Ranma, I am inside your body and mind. It is only logical that you would not see me in the outside world. I have not manifested myself yet, which is due to the fact that I needed to gather the necessary strength. That requirement has now been fulfilled.**_ _**–**_ the voice remarked.

"_In_ m-me? Who or what the hell are you?" a distinctly freaked out redhead hissed as she jumped to her feet. "And how the hell did you get into my body?"

– _**I apologise, Host Ranma. I had no choice in my choosing of a host when my 'parent' dropped me upon you. But I am confident that we will have a prosperous partnership.**_ _**–**_

"Host? Parent? Partnership? What the hell is going on here?" Ranma hissed out, barely keeping her voice from becoming a yell.

– _**May I recommend talking in your mind, Host Ranma? I will be able to understand you just as well, and it would not attract as much unwanted attention.**_ _**–**_ the voice suggested in a dry tone.

**'Okay, buddy. Just what the hell is going on here? And stop callin' me 'Host' Ranma. It's just Ranma, got it?'**

– _**Of course, Ranma. First off, let me introduce myself. I am a symbiote, and my homeworld is located in a distant galaxy far away from this planet. I would not be able to pronounce its designation correctly in your language, thus I will refer to it as Chaotica. –**_

**'Chaotica, huh? Fitting. But how did ya end up on Earth, Sym?' **Ranma asked, sitting back down on the bed.

– _**Sym?**__**– **_the symbiote questioned.

**'Well, you **_**are**_** a symbiote, that's why I call you Sym.'** Ranma replied matter-of-factly.

– _**Sym... –**_ the so named alien mused, _**– I like it, Ranma. –**_

**'Glad you do, Sym. So, how didcha end up on Earth?'**

– _**I was 'born' here. As for how this came about, I will gladly tell you everything, but I really recommend that we leave the premises first, Ranma. –**_

Ranma sighed in her mind. **'I guess you're right, Sym. I realised months ago that no one's gonna believe me. And trying ta get a new trial is sooo complicated. But how do we get outta here?'**

– _**That is actually easy, Ranma. I just have to manifest myself on your body, which will take care of the clothing issue. And we will be able to cloak ourselves. Become invisible if you will, or more accurate, undetectably camouflaged. I know your Umi-sen-ken gives you the same ability, but it cannot cloak you as completely as I. –**_

**'Cool! Let's do it, Sym!'** Ranma nearly shouted in her mind.

– _**Affirmative. I will now cover your body. You will probably experience strange sensations during the process, and I apologise for every inconvenience in advance. –**_

Ranma smiled in her mind. **'Doncha worry, Sym. That ya consider my feelings in the matter puts ya way ahead of a lot of people I could name.'** She thought bitterly.

– _**Understood, Ranma. I will now commence the covering process. It would be prudent for you to be standing for the initial forming of my outer self so that you can observe the process. –**_ Sym explained.

The redhead nodded in her mind and got to her feet. as soon as she stood Ranma was immediately assaulted by a very strange feeling that started out at her feet. It was as if they, and progressively her calves were covered by a watery liquid that coalesced with her body, and Ranma was hard pressed not to freak out. She looked down at herself and saw how a black-and-red liquid crept up her body to cover it, much the same way she had seen happen to Eddie Brock.

Sym had now crept up to her nether regions, and the redhead could feel how he/she/it formed a pair of comfortable panties that seemed to be made of the finest silk and that covered her nether regions like a second skin. She didn't mind wearing female underwear any more, which stemmed from the fact that she had had loads of other problems in here.

Which clothes one wore really became a non-issue after a while in custody and prison, and Ranma had gotten used to wearing panties. But the fact that Sym was seemingly able to form any article of clothing elated Ranma, for it meant that she could finally wear comfortable underwear in both forms. But she would experiment with it later.

Ranma switched her focus back to the covering process and took deep calming breaths as Sym flowed further up her body. She noticed that the bodysuit Sym began to form spawned something like tendrils which reached out from her body. They moved about on their own in unpredictable and chaotic patterns, formed random shapes and rejoined her body just as randomly.

The redhead found herself hard pressed to find a comparison in nature, and gave up soon as it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. But she liked how the tendrils moved about on their own, rising and falling as if they possessed a will of their own, ever in motion, ever chaotic. Just like her life.

The further Sym climbed up the more tendrils appeared, and Ranma, being the curious person she is began experimenting with them. She immediately found out that they obeyed her will, and felt immense joy when she was able to move them around as easily as any of her limbs.

"So cool!" the red-haired girl whispered in awe.

– _**That is nothing on what we **_**can**_** do, Ranma,**__**–**_ Sym said with a hint of pride. _**–**__**Especially not considering the vast reservoir of internal energy at our disposal. – **_

In the meantime the symbiotic being had crept up higher and before Ranma knew it the substance she knew to be Sym had already covered her breasts and had formed a comfortable bra underneath. She was tempted to say something as silly as 'You're lucky, normally no one touches those,' but figured it would be childish. Sym covered now everything bar her face and had formed some sort of collar below her neckline.

– _**Ranma, I will now cover your face. This will be the strangest part of all, and I ask you to remain calm. You will still be able to breathe and perceive normally. Actually, even better with the enhancements I provide. Are you ready? –**_

Ranma took a deep breath and nodded sharply. **'Ready, Sym.'**

She felt the sensation of Sym nodding back in her mind, and the feeling of him, her, it flowing upwards returned. The symbiote proceeded slowly so as to give Ranma the chance to get used to the feeling, but the redhead still had the feeling of suffocation despite Sym's reassurances when it finally covered her head fully. The breathing-reflex became overwhelming after two minutes, and the redhead took a deep breath. She noticed immediately that breathing worked as well as ever and smiled. Had she had a mirror available she would likely have run away from herself in terror, for her face displayed a visage of horror.

Her jaw had grown longer and thinner, had literally elongated to form a downright bizarre and gruesome face. Her maw, for it could only be called that, seemed to be a red abyss filled with wicked and sharp looking black teeth. Ranma looked like a creature from a nightmare, and where the eyes of a human would have been twin pools of white stared back at the world, shaped in the form of chaotic flames.

These 'eyes' made it impossible to tell where Ranma was looking, something that would assuredly unsettle the rest of humanity. She chuckled as her gaze fell upon the wicked looking claws her hands had become. Oh yes, she was downright intimidating, a predator among predators, she thought darkly.

Ranma stared down at herself in awe, and noted all the differences about herself. The redhead then willed her claws to become longer and sharper, and the symbiote obeyed instantly. A wicked grin contorted her visage even more. Unlimited weapons at her disposal, way cool! If and when she would ever return to Japan she would give a certain part-time-panda a demonstration in armed combat, that much was certain.

Wearing Sym was actually very comfortable, just like wearing your favourite sweater, for he/she/it covered her body like a second skin. Except that this was your favourite sweater-turned-weapons-arsenal she was now wearing. It was a remarkable feeling.

**'Sym, what exactly **_**is**_** that what you formed there? It's super cool, but what is it?'**

– _**This is the combat-suit I am able to form, Ranma. I will explain our abilities as soon as we have vacated the premises. Now think of becoming invisible. –**_

Ranma nodded and concentrated. She felt a strange sensation in the back of her mind and looked down at herself to see... nothing!

**'So cool, Sym! It's working, I **_**am**_** invisible!'**

– _**Very good. You notice the advantage to do so here and not in your cell? Yes, the cameras would have picked it up had you used your Umi. Now let us leave this facility. –**_

Ranma nodded again and calmly walked towards the door.

-.-

Ranma's chance to use more of her new powers came when it came to leaving Ryker's Island for good.

**'What now, Sym? I can't just knock every damned door down till I'm out. They would notice that for sure. That guard the fucker mentioned might even be waiting on the other side of the door.'**

– _**True. I recommend using the ventilation system. The shafts are big enough to accommodate us. –**_

**'Very funny, Sym. And how am I supposed to get up there?'** she asked and looked at the ventilation-grid five metres above their head. **'I could jump that high, sure, but I can't stick to the wall.'**

– _**Oh but you can. Just place your palms on the wall. –**_

**'Ya gotta be kiddin', Sym!'** Ranma sent back, shaking her head.

– _**Trust me, Ranma. I promise it will work. –**_

Ranma looked sceptical inside her mask, but decided to give it a try.** 'Here goes nothing...'**

The combat-suit-clad girl placed the palm of her right hand on the wall and gave it an experimental tug. To her surprise it stuck to the wall as if it were glued to it with some crazy super-glue. Ranma's eyes shot open in surprise inside the mask, and her surprise changed instantly to joy.

**'I-I can stick to the wall, Sym? Like a spider?'**

– _**Yes. Now place your left palm onto the wall and climb upwards. –**_

Ranma overcame her wonder and nodded, following Sym's advice. Carefully, testing, the redhead climbed up the wall, but true to her nature she adapted to her new abilities fast. Soon she had reached the ventilation-grid, a wide grin spread on her face as she hung upside down from the wall.

"So cool!" she exclaimed verbally.

– _**Indeed. But may I remind you to refrain from verbal remarks as long as we are operating in stealth? – **_Sym chided.

**'Oops. Sorry, Sym. What do I do now? I could just rip the grid away, but that could be heard. Suggestions?'**

– _**Just will your right index finger into a screwdriver, Ranma. Trust me, I would not ask anything of you we are not capable of. –**_

Ranma nodded and imagined her right index finger as a screwdriver, eyes shut tightly in her mask in concentration. When she opened them she noticed that her right index finger had elongated to form a screwdriver. "Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, and clapped her left hand over her maw.

'**Damn, that's friggin cool! Can you become anything I want?'** she asked excitedly.

– _**Yes. But I suggest you test out our capabilities as soon as we have escaped. –**_

The redhead nodded and began using the finger-turned-screwdriver. Within half a minute the grid had come off, and Ranma took great care to reattach the screws. She crawled forward as silently as possible and followed every upturn she could find. Ranma had to overcome several more grids that would have made an escape impossible under normal circumstances, and they finally emerged on top of the prison building.

She saw immediately that an escape via the ventilation shafts would have been more than just impossible under normal circumstances. Guards with imposing looking weapons were patrolling the roof, and the dogs they had with them looked wholly unpleasant.

**'Shit! Dogs!' **Ranma thought panicking as she remained stock-still in the ventilation shaft.

– _**Don't worry. Ranma. I am masking us completely, they cannot smell us. –**_

**'Wheew, for a second I thought I'd be a goner,'** she thought extremely relieved. **'Let's get outta here.'**

– _**Wait, Ranma. I just had what humans would call a scintillation. – **_

**'Scintiwhat? Sigh, I really need ta buy a dictionary.'** Ranma grumbled.

– _**Agreed. A scintillation is a flash of genius, Ranma, and I will now expand on this idea I had. Ask yourself this: what would happen if we escaped from this facility without being seen? I will give you the answer. We would be declared an escaped convict. But what would happen if all of those guards saw us jumping down into the waters? In this weather and from this height? – **_

**'Wait… That's brilliant, Sym! Everyone thinks my mutant powers are super strength and quick healing or something. Not some fancy stuff as breathing underwater or growing gills when coming inta contact with water. But those guys will have to **_**see**_** me…' **

– _**Yes, Ranma. That is what I would recommend. I will form prison clothes and create a screwdriver. My constructs keep molecular cohesion for about thirty seconds outside of me, but it should be enough to convince the guards how you escaped. – **_

**'Okay, Sym. We'll make it so.' **

-.-

Little later Ranma exited the ventilation shaft. The redhead gave a fake pant of exertion, and got to her feet. Just as she had expected, the dogs reacted to her presence immediately and began barking their heads off. Search headlights were instantly trained on her. "Freeze!" one guard said, and Ranma heard the unmistakable sounds of several weapons being armed and trained on her in the blink of an eye.

"Funny. As if I ain't freezin' already in this fucking blizzard," Ranma retorted coolly despite the weapons pointed in her face, her eyes looking up at the sky from where the snow kept falling in thick flakes. "That's really some shitty weather ya got here in New York. And the lodging… It literally begs ya ta run off. Think I'll sue my travel business."

"We got ourselves a real joker there, huh?" another guard commented.

"Not the Joker, Sam. He ain't real, and it's the wrong gender anyway. But I recognise her… That's the ronin Ranko! How in the nine hells did she escape?" another guard asked as he blinded her with his Maglite.

"Try that screwdriver, Jim. And stop reading those comics. As for you," the guard known as Sam glared at Ranma, "drop the fucking screwdriver, you hear me?"

Ranma growled at him and threw the screwdriver into the ventilation shaft behind her where it disappeared with loud clangs. "Better?" she spat challengingly.

"We'll drive that spunk outta ya in this prison, ya will see." another guard said matter of factly.

"No. I ain't going back inta that hell-hole. That asshole Jack almost raped me… He saw me naked… Touched me… Made me unclean… There's only one way to be free… To go back into the waters from where we came… I'll join my ancestors, and no one is going to stop me!" Ranma bellowed and started sprinting towards the edge of the rooftop where she knew the bay to be.

"Halt!" all guards bellowed, but Ranma didn't stop.

Rather the opposite, and the guards immediately opened fire in an effort to stop the escapee. But Ranma stayed well clear of the hailstorm of bullets the six guards sent her way, and only allowed one bullet to grace her upper left arm. Sym and she had agreed to leave some of Ranma's DNA behind so as to eliminate each and all doubts that could come up in the coming investigation. It was a minor inconvenience for her seeing that the scratch would be healed within no time, but putting up with that itch would serve her plan to be declared dead verily.

"Got her!" she heard one of the guards crow, and almost smiled as she felt how her blood dribbled to the ground. she briefly hid behind a chimney and left a bloody handprint as a souvenir for the guys from the CSI to ensure they had have sufficient evidence. Then she jumped a good five metres upwards, performed several somersaults and landed lightly on her feet, only to resume her sprint.

"Holy shit! Did ya see that?" another guard exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter, George! Concentrate on the target and keep firing!" the guard named Sam yelled as they continued to give chase.

"But I wounded her, Sam!" a third guard exclaimed.

"Def, Mitch, but do ya see that? She's not slowed down in the slightest!" Sam retorted.

"Keep firing!" another yelled.

"What do ya think we're doing, Bill? Crocheting?" Sam yelled back. "In case ya need new glasses, she's avoiding our bullets!"

Ranma would have been amused had it not taken the better part of her concentration to avoid the lead in the air. She finally reached the edge of the roof and turned her head around for a last time. "You will never get me alive!" she yelled, spread her arms and jumped.

"Holy shit!" she heard from above. "She really did it! The bitch really jumped to her death!"

The redhead smiled inwardly. Sym and she had prepared well, and as soon as she would hit the water and had submerged Sym would cover her body and camouflage them. They would never find a body, and considering the currents here it wouldn't really surprise anyone.

Ranma had really forgotten how much fun it was to do stuff like that, and the time where her father… Ex-father had her practise cliff-diving for some nutty reason or the other came back to her mind. Although, that might have had to do with escaping sharks so as to gain stamina, she thought wryly. Three seconds later Ranma hit the water, and she vowed to herself that she would pull a stunt like that again. Without armed guards, sharks and most importantly, her ex-father. Cliff-diving… The US surely had some nice cliffs, hadn't they?

As soon as Ranma felt how the water enveloped her body she felt Sym covering her in the blink of an eye, and it took barely an effort to become invisible. During their fall the redhead had taken a deep breath, and she could hold it for a good five minutes on her own. With Sym enhancing her this time-limit had probably doubled or more.

Which meant that they would have more than enough time to get to the opposite shore, unnoticed. Ranma giggled inwardly as the guards began firing into the water at random. Should they. They would never hit her, nor would they ever find her. Too bad she couldn't rub it in the Director's face, for Ryker's would most definitely _not_ be the last island she would see in her life.

-.-

The six guards whose job it was to guard the rooftop of the prison stared collectively at the waters deep below. The search headlights from the watchtowers were trained on the bay, and search parties would scour every centimetre of said bay in a few minutes. Not an enviable job.

"Boy am I ever glad that I ain't no frogman. Would be freezing me bits off in this fuckin' cold water, neoprene or not!" the guard named Bill exclaimed.

His five colleagues gave grunts of agreement. They had stopped wasting ammo three minutes ago and were now waiting for signs of life from the suicidal escapee, their field-glasses trained on the bay and cigarettes in their mouths.

"Ya think she survived that?" the sixth guard, who was responsible for controlling the dogs, asked.

His five colleagues stared at him after they had stashed their field-glasses. "Ya serious, Danny? A fall from this height? And inta this icy-cold water? Are ya shitting me?" Sam asked with a raised brow, his colleagues giving grunts of agreement.

George nodded. "Had she survived she'd have come up for air by now. After such an impact you _have_ to come up to get air into your lungs."

"Yeah. She's gotta be dead. Probably a feast for whatever lurks in the muddy waters down there."

"Case closed," Bill stated and flipped his cigarette into the air from where it slowly tumbled down towards the awaiting waters. "Ashes to ashes."

A low whine from the dogs was the only response to that.

-.-

Ranma had reached the opposite shore without any problem. It had taken her a good ten minutes to swim the distance, and her little swimming manoeuvre had demonstrated impressively that she could hold her breath now for far longer than five minutes. Still invisible the redhead jumped up and landed soundlessly on the rooftop of a building that stood near the shoreline.

The redhead panted and slumped bonelessly to the ground, her back to a convenient chimney. "That worked out better than expected..." she muttered and barely suppressed the insane giggle that wanted to escape as the pent up stress faded away.

– _**Did you have any doubts? – **_Sym asked just a tad smugly.

Ranma chuckled darkly, then finally broke out into a bout of giggles. She didn't care if that was 'unmanly' or some such shit, the prison had beaten that out of her. **'Now I know how I must've sounded when I spoke in that tone, Sym. No, I had no doubts. Not really. I was just... surprised. It was so easy! Guess we'll hafta test out what we are really capable off, for that was hardly taxing.'**

– _**Gladly. I would however recommend a more remote location. –**_

**'You don't say, Sym. Don't wanna stay near that monstrosity, not now, not ever. Err, Sym, can ya, dunno, alter my appearance or something? I feel how my hair falls down my back, and people would notice it's red if we operate visible.'**

– _**I could alter the colour of your hair to blonde, if that would be suitable. – **_Sym suggested.

**'Perfect! Do it!'**

Sym confirmed, and Ranma instantly felt a strange feeling course through her body. The feeling passed within seconds, and Ranma shuddered briefly. The boy-turned-girl willed herself to become visible and reached behind her back, pulling her long hair to the front. Ranma's eyes shot open despite Sym's assurances. Her hair _was_ blonde!

"How didcha do it, Sym?" Ranma asked in astonishment.

– _**It was simple for me, Ranma. I am bonded to you, I literally am in each and every cell, down to the genetic level. I just altered the gene that determines the hair-colour and it was done. –**_

**'Wicked. W-Wait a sec... Genetic level? Y-You changed my hair-colour for good? Does that mean **_**d-down there**_** too?'** Ranma asked embarrassed.

– _**If you refer to what humans call pubic hair, then yes. The change is complete, otherwise it would not be an effective disguise. –**_

**'I see. Could you alter my appearance too, Sym?'**

– _**Yes. We can become whatever we want, which is what we should do as a short-term strategy. But I can suggest a better alternative for the long run. When I bonded myself to you I noticed that your growth had been stunted, both in the physical as well as in the mental department. If we could find a safe hiding place I could begin repairs. –**_

**'Really? I wouldn't be a midget in this form any more?'**

– _**No, Ranma. That reminds me, is it normal for humans to be both genders? I must admit, that confuses me. –**_

**'Y-You know of my male form?'**

– _**Yes. It was the form I originally bonded to, and I learned everything about you when I did. But I cannot understand how you can change from one gender to the other or the parameters of this 'curse' involved. You can imagine my surprise when the parameters of your body changed down to the molecular level. –**_

**'M-Molecular level? T-That confirms it even more than my periods... I am a real girl.'**

– _**Your current form is most clearly a fully functioning example of a female of the human species. Had you doubts about this, Ranma? –**_ Sym asked in a confused tone.

**'N-No, not after my time in jail, Sym. And ya know what? I don't really care anymore. All I care about is clearing my name and revenge, and which body I wear if and when I reach my goals is not important.** **That reminds me... what gender are **_**you**_**, Sym?'** she asked out of curiosity.

– _**I am asexual, Ranma. But I adapt to my host. –**_ it replied.

The combat-suit-clad redhead chuckled inside her mind. **'Then you will get one heluva headache, Sym.'**

Sym sighed. _**– Most likely. But adapt I will. –**_

**'Good to hear that. it's a requirement for hanging out with me.' **she chuckled.** 'Hey, why do I feel so drained?'**

– _**I am beginning repairs with the help of excessive energy we have available. The repairs to your mind will take the longest, and I will conduct them slowly. I am surprised you notice the drain, Ranma. –**_

_**'Heh, might just be cause I'm hungry, Sym. Some food would be really good.'**_

– _**Agreed. It will also be necessary as energy provider for the repairs. I suggest we use our stealth to obtain viable food sources, Ranma. –**_

**'Good suggestion, Sym. Dunno if they noticed our escape, but we can't risk anything. I don't wanna have to mow through loads of cops if I can help it. We are not in Nerima where the cops stay outta my business after all...'**

**to be continued**…

******Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. **

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board for their continued great help. **

**And last but not least, many thanks to my new beta for this story, Ordieth. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

Omake by GangstaSpanksta:

– _**I could alter the colour of your hair to blonde, if that would be suitable. –**_ Sym suggested.

**'Perfect! Do it!'**

Sym confirmed, and Ranma instantly felt a strange feeling course through her body. The feeling passed within seconds, and Ranma shuddered briefly, overcoming the sensation from the loss of IQ.

**A/N: This new part was very hard to write and is probably the closest I'll ever get to write a rape scene. thank God. It's also the reason why I changed the rating to M. **

**Just to clear that up, no, this is not a 'Ranma-turns-complete-girl' fic. It's just that s/he was forced to accept the girl-side and had to deal with it. **

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter: **

**Martrex, Paver83, Metroidvania, goku90504, James Axelrad, MattCauthon1, Jago Li Son Shiranui, Talzin, Daniel Lynx, Howard Russell, K-Dog the Fire Beast, psycotic boy, Dumbledork, John Tannius, blackmamuth, SkyDragon2083, Ranko1, AzureSky123, Ranchan17, DarkRubberNeck, AscendedWarrior, teenjag, Tuisto, Anime-Freak317, Nth, ranma girl 14, Tenchi Saotome, QuestionDeca, Xtor49, sadfru, Tatsu-ZZmage, Spanner, James Axelrad, Virgil, Wonderbee31, porthos112, rochchen, borg rabbit, Mysticalflame, KaiserPhoenix, Lord Oberon**


	4. Growth

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

******Chapter 4: Growth**

Ranma was in the last place she would have ever expected to find herself in. The combat-suit-clad girl was walking through the sewers below New York, and the vast underground tunnel-system was just what she had expected. It consisted of tunnels that were barely high enough to walk upright, and the tunnels were overall dusty and derelict. Walking without getting wet feet was nearly impossible, seeing that the by-paths were way too small for comfort.

The sewers below New York were assuredly not a very habitable place with their countless rats, other pests and whatever else lurked down here. The gloomy darkness around here gave one a feeling of constant threat and impending doom, and Ranma would be more than happy to leave this place as soon as possible. But it was also the last place where anyone would have a chance to stumble on her, being declared dead or not. It was in here where Sym and she would have enough time to finish the intended repairs undisturbed and unnoticed, and to this end she would very well put up with anything. Even a stinking sewer system.

The redhead-turned-blonde could only see anything in the darkness due to the enhanced senses Sym provided her with as she walked on at a fast pace, her feet making steady splish-splashing sounds in the water. It were those improved senses Sym had blessed her with that had spared her the inconvenience to steal a Maglite, among other things. She had already stolen enough to have a bad conscience, and at one time she would make it up to those she had stolen from. But those thefts had been for a good cause at least, as she felt that she had now more than enough energy available for the necessary repairs. Besides, she felt more sated than in a long time, and that had to account for something, right?

As soon as she had entered the sewers thoughts of food had left her mind rather quickly, though. The stench down here was worse than anything she had ever smelled before, and taking all that she had experienced in her young life into account that was really saying something. But the stench wasn't the only problem around here. Another one were the pests that existed here, and the clanless girl had already killed dozens of rats that had unwittingly decided to attack her. Ranma was quite certain that she hadn't seen the last of the vermin that existed down here. But she didn't care. She could defend herself, and she had come down here with a purpose: she was in search of a spot that was relatively secure. Relatively secure meant that it had to be far enough away from the main routes, but also easily defendable. Although, the latter was practically a non-issue, for Sym would protect them while she rested. And her - Ranma had taken to use gender-pronouns for Sym according to her own state of gender for the simple reason that she disliked referring to Sym as 'it' - defence capabilities had to be among the best the world had to offer.

Having finally found a spot that suited them perfectly Ranma crawled up the slippery tunnel-wall and came to a stop in front of a hole in the wall she had picked up on. It was up high enough so that not too many hostile pests would get up easily, and those that could would be terminated. Furthermore, the ceiling was about one metre above, which made it harder for enemies to attack. The blonde searched the hole that turned out to be a small cavern with her tendrils and had to do away with some rats, then she claimed it as her own. The small cavern was just big enough so that she could rest comfortably, and Ranma lay down. Now said repairs could begin.

**'Sym, I'm ready when you are.'**

– _**Good, Ranma. I will now form a cocoon around your body. Once done I will hold you in a state comparable to what humans would call a coma. –**_

**'Understood, Sym. And thanks... For everything.'** Ranma thought as she felt how Sym encased her on an even grander scale than usual.

– _**You are welcome, Ranma. I will now commence the repairs. Good night. –**_

The blonde nodded back in her mind and stretched out comfortably. The last she felt before falling asleep was that Sym formed wicked feeling weapons with their combat suit that presumably were meant as their outer defence. Then everything went black.

-.-

Ranma had no idea where she was or what had woken her up, nor did she know what time it was, or better yet, which day. The only thing she knew was that she was lying on the ground in an unknown place, and this ground definitely didn't feel like the tiny cavern she had found in the sewers. Even though Sym had counterbalanced the craggy underground of the cavern at least somewhat, it had still felt uncomfortable. This here was totally different. The underground she was lying on felt like the soft underground one could find in a forest. Most peculiar.

She opened her eyes with a long-suffering groan and shook her head to clear it. Once her mind had resumed a semblance of functioning within normal parameters the redhead-turned-blonde got to her feet and looked down at herself to find that she was naked. It was something she hadn't noticed right away, most probably due to the warmth that predominated around here, wherever here was. Ranma also noticed that she was still blonde, pubic hair and all. Her eyes flew open in surprise as her now more alert mind noticed several differences about herself. Not only was she a good deal taller, gauging from how far the ground seemed to be away in comparison to before, no, she hadn't just grown, it was as if her female form had… matured, for lack of a better term.

Her formerly so big seeming breasts fit much better on the now larger frame, and when she felt her face with her hands she noticed that it had changed as well. Ranma knew instinctively that something had changed about her hair as well. She could feel how a warm breeze gently played with her now long blonde hair, hair that reached well past her shoulders from the sensations she got. Ranma guessed that it was about as long as she had worn it in her birthform before the Dragon Whisker incident, and it felt good to wear it this long again for a change. Her ex-father had always claimed long hair was too 'girly', but his opinion didn't really matter any more, did it? Ranma grinned. It sure as hell didn't. Hah! Her ex-father would blow a gasket or five if he could see her like this. She knew even without a mirror that her girl-form had grown into a woman, and it was one of her priorities to find out just what she looked like now. Right after willing some clothes onto herself.

**'Odd,'** Ranma thought as her attempts to form clothing with Sym's help failed, **'At least my usual luck doesn't hold true and it's not freezing around here, wherever I am. Rather the opposite, in fact. This seems to be a really warm summer day. Hmm, I should sunbathe naked more often if it feels this good. But I'm getting sidetracked here.'**

The blonde shielded her eyes from the warming sun and cocked her head from side to side, taking in the place she was currently at. "Where the hell am I now?" the blonde girl muttered to herself as she tried to remember where she had last seen these massive mountains and trees that looked so familiar.

Her eyes widened moments later as she finally recognised the area, an area she had last visited at the tender age of eleven. Ranma pushed herself to her feet in one fast move. "Holy shit… That's the White Goat Wilderness Area in Canada, and it's summer! How the heck did I end up here?"

– _**We are not really in Alberta, Canada, Ranma, but in your mind. I chose a memory you were fond of, and this specific memory was on the forefront of what I would call happy memories. It is rather strange that you possess so few.–**_ Sym's voice answered out loud.

"Story of my life, Sym." Ranma mused wryly as she looked around in awe, taking in all the sounds and sights that were exactly as she remembered them, the tall trees, awe-inspiring mountains, incredibly clear lakes and the wildlife that could be heard but not seen. It made sense that everything was as she remembered, considering it was her memory, she mused.

Above she could see and hear several hawks and eagles in their majestic flight, and Ranma sighed contently. Even if this was just a memory, she loved being in nature. It was the one thing she had missed out on in Nerima the most, and she had secretly relished those times when she had been able to go on a training trip for whatever reason. In nature she was wild and free and had been free to practise the Art in its purest form, undisturbed by outside influences and away from all the pressures that had so often seemed to crush her.

It was no wonder that most of her happy memories consisted of landscapes she had practised in, for there and then she had felt alive the most. Of course, she liked living in a city with its modern achievements nearly just as much, and fighting and training in a dojo was fulfilling, but training in nature was something else, it was on a wholly different level. In real, untouched nature one had to constantly be on his guard, and it served to sharpen one's senses and opened one's mind to the beauties and dangers of nature alike.

Returning from her descend on the memory lane Ranma walked carefully over to a large boulder that looked at least somewhat comfortable and sat down. "So we are in my mind? Is that why you can talk to me out loud? Sure, must be."

– _**No, Ranma. It is because I am sitting right behind you. –**_ Sym replied dryly.

Ranma's head literally whipped around, and her eyes bulged out when she saw a humanoid shape that closely resembled her girl side. Sym was sitting on a boulder ten metres behind her and looked exactly how she would look with her on her body, save for the face which displayed Sym's usual features. Ranma walked over towards the symbiote-girl, now more used to her different centre of gravity and thus surer of her footing and looked her up and down. It didn't escape her notice that Sym's shadow coalesced with her own.

Sym nodded. _**– This is a symbol of our connection, our bond, in this mindscape. –**_

The blonde girl nodded and finished her lookover with a low and appreciative whistle. "Not bad, Sym. Can you do that in the real world as well?"

– _**Yes, I can. However, I do not prefer to do so, for I cannot survive outside of my host for more than a few days.**_ _**–**_

"I see. But it's nice to see you from face to face so to speak, Sym. I haven't really thanked you for saving me from that... that r-rapist. Thanks, Sym." she said and hugged the symbiote-girl.

Sym returned the strange-feeling hug, and Ranma could feel her smile even though she couldn't see it. _**–You are welcome, Ranma. And I have to thank you for having me. I could not have asked for a finer host, even though you could indulge in more outbursts of violence and destruction for my taste. –**_

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Ranma asked warily as she sat down on another rock about four metres away from Sym.

– _**My race is a race of conquerors, Ranma. We act on whims and generally do what we want. I do not have this wish to conquer, not in this form at least, which is most likely due to influences upon me I will expand on once we have a quiet moment. That said I will give you just an overview. **_

– _**You see, we symbiotes pattern ourselves after our host once we are bonded, and you are, at least primarily, a good person. I know from your memories that you always tried to do what was right, not easy. You did not always succeed, often due to your own shortcomings, but you tried. I, having patterned myself after you, encourage you to continue do so. I leave to you how you want to do this. My advice would be to descend upon the rapists and scum that have infested this city, to save those girls who can not save themselves. Or who do not have the luck of –**_

"Being saved by an alien symbiote," Ranma cut in, her head perking up shortly when a Coyote howled in the distance. She nodded. "Okay, I see nothing wrong with punishing rapists and other scum. They don't deserve better."

– _**You sound like you mean it, Ranma.**_ _**–**_

"That's cause I do. T-This asshole tried to r-rape me in Ryker's. I-I was a _hairsbreadth_ away from b-being raped. T-That walking mountain of m-muscles wanted to v-violate me in the worst p-possible way. And I was powerless t-to stop him. All m-my training, and I c-couldn't do jack about it! T-That was the w-worst feeling in m-my life, to b-be helpless. Powerless t-to stop him. C-Completely at his m-mercy. Hah! Mercy!" she exclaimed, getting a better grip on herself. "As if he'd have granted me mercy! What a joke! I ain't being merciful any more either. Guys like him will get theirs, I'm gonna ensure that."

– _**That sounds promising. –**_ Sym commented meaningful.

"It does. You know, I see things much more clearly now. Is that because of the repairs?"

– _**Yes, Ranma. And I apologise for my failing to restore you into a full male as you once were. –**_

"Huh? Restore me? What do you mean?" Ranma asked with interest.

– _**I know from your memories that you once were fully male before you acquired your gender-changing 'curse', and I tried to re-establish this state in the course of my repairs to your body. My possibilities of alterations to your form are vast, but I found that this 'magic' behind your 'curse' exceeds even my possibilities. It is as if the section of your DNA pertaining your gender is in some kind of read-only mode, just so as if the 'curse' wants you to remain 'cursed' at all events. Alterations to it are impossible. –**_

Ranma, who had listened avidly chuckled mirthlessly, which was not something Sym would have expected. _**– I must admit that your reaction surprises me. I would not have thought that you would find the situation humorous. – **_

"It's not so much the situation as my life that's humorous, Sym. You know, I've tried so many cures, have done so much to get cured in the past, but after Jusendo I simply accepted the truth: there's no cure, and I won't search for one any more. There are more important things, like getting a life, clearing my name and implementing my revenge. So I am a girl half the time. And? There's no fat bastard or sword-wielding honour-and-manliness obsessed nut around to make demands and my life hell, and I'm actually quite comfortable with this body. It mightn't be the one I've been born in, but I manage." Ranma replied in a tone that communicated she meant what she had said.

Sym nodded. _**– Actually, this form, or rather your original female form would have been the form you would have had had you been born a girl. Jusenkyo turns its victims into fully functional examples of what they would have been had they been born this way, as far as I can ascertain. And your attitude is very mature. You being able to change genders will enhance our repertoire of disguises and identities greatly. It is an asset we can and will use to our advantage. – **_

"We sure will, Sym," Ranma agreed with a nod, her expression serious, "What about the other repairs? Had any luck aside from the obvious?" she asked, looking down at her body.

– _**Yes. I have repaired everything excluding the Neko-ken, and that includes brain damage inflicted upon you. The difference in your thought-processes should be noticeable already.**_ _**–**_

"B-Brain damage?" Ranma breathed, her expression shocked.

– _**Yes, Ranma. There was a lot of scarred tissue in your brain which I repaired. I would recommend not participating in overly dangerous training methods and not taking hits to the head that are not necessary in the future. –**_

"I see. Thanks, Sym. And the difference _is_ noticeable. I can think as clear as ever! No more cobwebs and sinuses... So friggin cool!" the blonde exclaimed enthusiastically.

– _**As I said, your mental growth has been stunted just as much as your physical growth, probably even more so. Your father did much unintentional damage to you when he solely focussed on what he calls the 'Art'. At least I presume it was unintentional. He did so at the exclusion of everything else. Do you see why this is detrimental? –**_

Ranma moved from her position on the rock and sat down in the soft grass in a crosslegged position to dwell on what Sym had said before giving her answer. That in and on itself was already an indicator how much of a success the repairs were. The blonde finally looked up with a very thoughtful expression. "If I focus on just one thing, one 'drive' or however one wants to call it, and that to the exclusion of everything else I may become the best in my chosen discipline, but I am unwise, uneducated regarding everything else. I've become an idiot savant, eh? An idiot who can perform one trick but nothing else. But no more." she said with determination.

– _**Very good, Ranma. You are correct on all accounts. With the repairs to your brain you are now able to realise that limiting yourself is not recommendable. But we will remedy that.**_ _**–**_

"How? I mean, I ain't exactly clever or anything..." Ranma mused thoughtfully and rubbed her chin with her left thumb and index finger.

– _**On the contrary. You **_**are**_** the best martial artist of your generation, as far as I can tell from your memories, and achieving that required high intelligence and dedication. And we can make use of the abilities you normally reserve for martial arts. How? That is rather simple. You pick up techniques much faster than your peers, and find ways to counter and revise them at a moments notice. You have the potential to be great if you apply that mind of yours to other fields of interest. And that is what we will do once you are complete.**_ _**–**_

"Oookay. Err, what do you mean when you say 'complete', Sym?"

– _**The Neko-ken, Ranma. **_**It**_** is the reason why I woke you up inside your mind rather than in the outside world. It is on you to decide if it lives or dies.**_ _**–**_

-.-

Ranma stared unblinking for a few moments, then she began to shake her head. "Come again? I could've sworn you said you could remove the Neko-ken. For good?"

– _**Yes. But the situation is more complicated than it seems at first look. As far as I understand the logic behind the technique 'Neko-ken', a part of the trainees mind is permanently imprinted with characteristics of a cat. Its agility, territoriality, dexterity and many more. Not to forget the ki-claws you are able to form in your feral state, which are an efficient replacement of a real cat's claws.**_ _**–**_

"Efficient my butt. Those damn things can cleave through just about anything." Ranma replied with a shudder as she remembered the damage her feral self had wrecked the times it had been out to play.

– _**Indeed. That is one reason why I would recommend reintegrating the Neko-ken fragment into your psyche, which is the final step to the technique in my opinion. You would not be as helpless in case we ever got separated against our will as you were before my aiding you. The other reason is, the Neko-ken is a part of you, and without it you can never be complete.–**_

Ranma dwelled on that for a few minutes, or whatever passed as minutes in her mind anyway before getting to her feet. "If I kill it I'll kill a part of myself..." she muttered as she paced, "But what's going to happen if I reintegrate it? Will it gain dominance? Will I be different? What will happen?"

– _**My estimation is that you will have to prove who the stronger is. Which should not pose a problem with my help. Once that has happened I will guide the reintegration process, which I would have done anyway had I known that you preferred this solution.**_ _**–**_

"But I _don't_!" Ranma exclaimed, resuming her pacing while Sym watched her neutrally. "I mean, what do I do if I grow a tail? Or cat's ears? Or cat's eyes? Or all of that? I don't wanna stand out more than I already do. I mean, I still look like a normal human being despite being your host. I don't wanna give that up, Sym."

– _**I understand, Ranma. But sometimes someone has to risk a lot to gain even more. Besides, there is still an option we could make use of in case your genetic makeup was changed.**_ _**–**_

"Which option?" Ranma asked, her hopes rising.

– _**I am not prone to discuss it now, Ranma. But I assure you, I could probably remedy any changes the absorption would make to you. –**_

"Probably?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

– _**I am reasonably sure. So, what will it be?**_ _**–**_

-.-

Ranma Saotome, host of Sym and ex-heir of the Saotome school of Martial Arts was currently faced with a dilemma. On the one hand she could kill the Neko-ken and be rid of the problems it brought without taking the risk of becoming even more abnormal, on the other hand she could beat the Neko-ken senseless to give it a low down, reintegrate it into herself and possibly gain its powers and risk becoming even more abnormal. A tough choice to make.

The currently blonde girl thought long and hard about the pros and cons of both options. Ultimately decisive was the fact that she would have to kill a part of herself, Ranma mused. Killing in and on itself wasn't the real problem any more, not after her stay in prison. Ranma thought herself very well capable of killing if the need should arise nowadays, but the Neko-ken was like a babe. Innocent, albeit dangerous. Unaware of its immense power. It was a part of her that had not asked to be made this way, much like the rest of her. And just like her, it deserved to live.

Ranma's jaw clenched in determination when she had reached a decision. "I'll do it, Sym. I'll beat up the furball and become whole. Would you please cover everything but my face? He knows my face and should be able to recognise me." she said as she got to her feet.

– _**Of course.**_ _**–**_ Sym confirmed and obliged to Ranma's wishes within seconds.

The blonde couldn't really describe it satisfyingly, but in being reunited with Sym she felt more... complete, not to mention clothed. And well prepared to take on the Neko-ken.

"Okay, Sym, then lets track down my furry self. Betcha he's in that dark part of the forest over there. it's where I'd be in his stead." she said as she walked soundlessly towards the dark and imposing looking forest. Not a sound could be heard from this part of the forest, and Ranma cocked her head left and right to listen if a sound, any sound penetrated this unnatural veil of silence that seemed to hang over the forest, but not a chirp could be heard. It was as if the inhabitants of the forest, provided there were any, knew that there was a dangerous predator in the area.

– _**You know your other self best, Ranma. If you presume he is there then he probably is. –**_ Sym responded.

"I'm pretty sure he is, Sym," she retorted and sighed. Then she cracked her knuckles and popped her joints. "Okay, ready to beat myself up."

– _**An odd but accurate way of phrasing it. Before we do battle, remember that I can form any kind of weapon at a mere thought. –**_

**'Right.'** Ranma thought, switching to mind-talk, **'Anything, huh?'**

Grinning Ranma willed her right arm into a double-bladed axe and her left hand into a morning star. The blonde experimented with her ability for a while, the results pleasing her verily. **'I can hardly wrap my mind around this, Sym. The main disadvantage of weapons is totally negated 'cause of you! Forget being disarmed, I can form as much weapons as I wanna! I mean I can, can't I?'**

– _**Yes, Ranma. I regenerate instantly. There is an endless supply of me if you will.**_ _**–**_

**'If I ever meet my ex-pops again I'll show him.'** the redhead-turned-blonde thought vindictively.

– _**That's a sound course of action for the more distant future, Ranma. First we should establish a base of operations. But we are getting ahead of us. We should deal with the Neko-ken first.–**_

**'Agreed.'**

After walking for several minutes in the twilight that filtered through the tall trees Ranma was pretty sure that she had seen movement up in said trees. She willed herself invisible and hopped eight metres straight up, landing soundlessly in a low crouch on a thick branch that easily supported her weight. The blonde scouted around but didn't see much in the semi-darkness of the forest. Not hesitating a moment she willed Sym to cover her head, and her sight improved instantly.

**'There!'** Ranma thought. **'The blur, that's gotta be him!'**

She didn't expect an answer, but Sym gave one anyway. _**– Most probably. The Neko-ken appears indeed to be male. Which presents a problem.**_ _**–**_

_**'Which, Sym?'**_

– _**You are currently female, and I have developed three scenarios for your encounter with him. A) he will feel threatened and will try to defend his territory, B) he will try to mate with you**_ _**–**_

**'Eep! That's disgusting! That's even worse than that strange Greek guy we talked 'bout at school, that weirdo who did his own mom.'**

– _**I agree that it is abnormal behaviour even for your species, but it is a possibility nonetheless. You are an attractive and powerful female, and he will likely be attracted by that. Remember, he is a cat and acts on instincts, which means that there is no ratio that would realise the wrongness. Then there is option C), a combination of A) and B).**_ _**–**_

**'Splendid.'** Ranma replied as she followed the blur hot on its heels. **'Solutions?'**

– _**Just one. Will yourself into a male. That would solve all problems.**_ _**–**_

**'All but one, Sym.' **Ranma sighed**. 'I'm afraid, and I mean really afraid that I might end up raped. I know now that I'm a real girl and that I could end up p-p-pregnant from such a bastard. If he would let me live, that is. I mean, I've had nightmares while you made those repairs, and the best way to fight 'em is to face them head-on. If I can defeat Neko no one's gonna have a chance.**

– _**Even without me, nearly no normal human being would stand a chance, especially with the reabsorbed Neko-ken. And **_**with **_**me you stand a good chance of holding your own against most superpowered human beings.**_ _**–**_

**'Good to know that, Sym. And I'll face him with you, together. I know from stories how strong he is, and his ki-claws are beyond dangerous. He's powerful and unpredictable, and I don't wanna risk anything.'**

– _**A sound strategy, Ranma. Then let us do battle.**_ _**–**_

**'Always ready.'** Ranma thought and dropped the invisibility while willing the mask off her head at the same time.

-.-

The black blur Ranma had been following unnoticed came to a full stop on a thick branch about five metres above ground. Neko-Ranma's nose twitched noticeably while he sniffed the air, and his head whirled around sharply when he caught Ranma's scent. His eyes fell on the combat-suit-clad female that had dared to intrude into his territory, and said eyes widened at what he saw. Especially the wicked and sharp looking claws Ranma's fingers had turned into seemed to have piqued his interest, and he eyed them as well as the tendrils warily.

Ranma, who was easily balancing on a thick tree-branch five metres away from Neko's position with her hands folded behind her head, grinned. "Yeah, good on you ta recognise me. I am the majority owner here, and I'm here ta claim ya back." she said and cracked her knuckles. "And I won't loose, especially not to a part of me."

Neko-Ranma opened his mouth in a threatening growl, showing off his sharp incisors, which gave Ranma the brief chance to survey her opponent. This cat-like version of herself was about as tall as her male form, and just as impressively built. She couldn't really tell, seeing as Neko was perched on the branch on all fours, just like a real cat. Noticeable was that he sported raven-hair that reached down to his butt, black full-body fur and a black tail. Neko had also used the time to seize her up with his yellow cat-like eyes, as Ranma noticed. Gauging from the look in his intense yellow eyes he knew all too well what was at stake here.

– _**Ranma, it seems he does **_**not**_** recognise you, at least not fully. I suppose it might be due to your different appearance and your altered smell which stems from the repairs to your brain. Its chemistry was altered, which probably makes a big difference to him, even in this mindscape. –**_

**'You might be on to something there, Sym.' **Ranma thought back, listening to the threatening growls Neko emitted.** 'Hmm, gotta convince him the old-fashioned way then 'bout who's his better... By beating him senseless.'**

Neko had finished his examination at just this moment, and in the next second the fight was on, without warning or preamble. The cat-like Ranma simply seemed to blur and appeared in front of Ranma milliseconds later, bringing his right hand down like a claw. In this instant the blonde was glad that Sym augmented her abilities, for this attack might just have been too fast for even her without Sym.

But due to her enhanced abilities Ranma was easily able to dodge the 'claw-swipe', and she was able to avoid the follow-ups just as easily as she jumped from tree-trunk to tree-trunk in a steady descent, using her strong legs to utilise the trees as spring-boards. Her opponent growled in frustration as he tried to land a blow, but Ranma kept well ahead of him, all with the ulterior motive to lure him to the ground. He was just as good as she in mid-air, but here, now that they were on the ground she had the advantage, Ranma thought as she landed silently on the soft forest soil. She had an advantage he had no way of knowing about, and she would use it.

Ranma immediately used her combat-suit to send out tendrils through the underground while Neko wasted valuable time with seizing her up yet again, obviously re-evaluating her due to the speed and agility she had shown. This would be his downfall, and this catlike version of herself would only notice what was going on when it was way too late. And it already was, Ranma thought with a barely suppressed smirk.

Neko had just overcome his wariness and was about to attack when Ranma's tendrils had reached his position. With nary a thought the thick tendrils shot out of the ground and wound themselves around the ankles of the surprised cat-man in the blink of an eye. From there they crept up higher, not unlike snakes that ensnared their victim. Neko tried to rip the tendrils off, but it was to no avail. The cat-man had no way of knowing this, but the tendrils were actually tough, flexible fibres of organic polymers that could resist strain up to several dozen tons. Neko's strength was simply no match for them, his resistance was futile.

The combat-suit-clad blonde wasted no time in admiring her handiwork and yanked the surprised cat-man off his feet with a strong tug, using the tendrils like ropes. Neko was sent flying towards Ranma's position, and the martial artist had her fist already reared back. Her timing was perfect, and the strong punch to the jaw catapulted a surprised Neko almost a hundred metres backwards, straight through an array of trees that were damaged beyond recognition. Neko finally got to his feet long seconds later with an annoyed growl, and he licked his bleeding lips like a cat while eyeing her up in a now much more careful manner.

"If you continue to fight me you'll only get hurt much worse. Give up."

– _**You are as subtle as a bulldozer, Ranma. –**_ Sym sighed. Had she had eyes she would have rolled them. _**– We **_**really**_** have to work on your diplomatic skills. –**_

Neko-Ranma seemed to agree with this sentiment, for his growls increased in intensity and volume. The cat-man then picked up an uprooted tree and utilised his enormous strength that would normally have eclipsed that of 'normal' Ranma by several magnitudes and threw it at the blonde, bent down and repeated the procedure with another tree-trunk and then another in quick succession.

He repeated the move several more times, and Ranma saw herself confronted with several huge, flying tree-trunks. That would normally have posed a problem, considering their speed, trajectory, aim and power with which they had been thrown. She would have been hard pressed to avoid them in her normal form, but now she welcomed the chance to test out her powers. A nasty smirk adorning her face Ranma morphed her arms into wicked looking blades and used her even more enhanced speed to literally dance between the trees-trunks thrown at her while cutting them to pieces. She jumped up and down, left and right and used tree-trunks, branches and even the ground as springboards as she reduced the improvised flying weapons to handy firewood like a crazy lumberjack on crack.

Ranma finally landed on the ground a good twenty metres away from Neko, the blades reverting back into claws. The whole place was crammed with firewood, and Ranma idly dusted herself off. "Ya could've said ya wanted to start a campfire." she said teasingly. "Brought any good meat at least? Aww, I forgot! Your last hunt was a failure, wasn't it?"

Neko didn't like to be mocked and growled menacingly, his tail swishing behind him in agitation. Then he charged on all fours, just like a panther and just as fast. The cat-like man jumped and made several sweeping motions with his hands in mid-jump, and six pale-blue glowing blades of energy raced at Ranma's vital spots. But the blonde girl just grinned and made it into a sport to show her furry self how easy avoiding the deadly blades was for her.

– _**Ranma, do not play with him. We have much to do and even less time. –**_ Sym scolded.

**'Okay, okay, Sym, you don't have to read me the riot-act here. I'm just happy that he can't even touch me, not even if he wanted to. Let a girl have her fun, will ya?'** Ranma replied, her eyes twinkling in mirth.

– _**Ranma, this is no game. This is a fight over who gains dominance of your mind. Every tiny little mistake could be your last, so finish him off already. –**_ the symbiote insisted.

Ranma sighed, and her happy face grew serious as her playful mood left her. She couldn't deny that Sym was right, this _was_ a very important fight, and being the more powerful fighter didn't automatically ensure victory. She didn't know which of her former sensei had said it, but one needed to exert constant vigilance in a fight until it was well and truly over. And even then one should ensure that the opponent stayed down.

"Okay," the blonde said and willed Sym to cover her face, "Time to get deadly serious."

That said Ranma winked out of existence, and the next thing Neko-Ranma felt was immense pain as he found a fist buried in his gut. His opponent's fist. The cat-like man blinked stupidly and had just started to move his head in order to look down at what had caused the sudden pain when a hard punch almost shattered his jaw. Ranma's fist was still poised in mid-air, and she had punched him so hard that Neko flew straight through a whole cluster of trees, felling them completely as he involuntarily created a new path. The combat-suit-clad girl was neither satisfied nor finished, and willed both her arms into long katanas with which she cut the falling trees to bits and pieces in full run and reformed the katanas into claws after she was done. Neko-Ranma had been embedded in a thick tree trunk and had just gathered his bearings when he saw his challenger run at him at full speed. Jumping out of the Neko-Ranma-sized indentation he had made the cat-man snarled viciously and made repeated swiping motions with his hands. The forest was immediately filled with deadly ki-attacks that cut down everything in their path. But the onrushing Ranma had had her guard up, and had jumped upwards as soon as she had seen Neko move.

She used the trees as springboards to gather speed, and the redhead-turned-blonde looked like a crazy rubber ball on crack as she ricocheted from one tree to the other. Neko-Ranma didn't sit by idly either and tried to hit the human missile with repeated swipes of his 'claws', but it was futile. Ranma finally deemed that she had gathered enough speed and shot straight at her Neko-self with speeds that would rival that of a missile any time. Her fist was already reared back, and the devastating punch with which she hit Neko in the face echoed throughout the forest just as loudly as the howl of pain from Neko. The force behind this punch had eclipsed that of the first by several magnitudes, and it spoke for Neko's durability that he wasn't out cold right away. But the involuntary flight through a large section of trees had depleted his energy reserves almost completely, and he came to rest in a crumpled heap about three hundred metres away.

Ranma, who had been sufficiently admonished by Sym to end the fight quickly, sprinted over to her other self and formed a katana on her right arm. the girl came to a full stop in front of Neko and pointed the sword at his unprotected throat. "Give up and admit that I am the dominant one." the blonde said simply, and shackled Neko to the tree he was leaning against with tendrils from her left arm, taking great care to bind his hands tightly.

She would swear later that she had heard Sym sigh in her head. _**– Yet again you display your mastery of diplomacy… –**_

**'Stuff it, Sym. I won, didn't I?'**

– **He**_** doesn't seem to think so… –**_ Sym commented.

**'Maybe that'll help…'** Ranma thought back as she willed Sym to uncover her face before she shifted to her male form, a very much improved Caucasian version of her birthform with blonde hair.

"I'm the boss here, and I didn't go to all that trouble to reintegrate you so just you can play stubborn. Give it up already." the now male Ranma growled.

Neko looked surprised for a moment and growled inquiringly, his head cocked to the left. Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I _am_ you, and you should know that, despite everything. Do you yield?"

Ranma watched his other self carefully for a reaction and kept the katana firmly in place to emphasise that Neko was helpless. To further emphasise that it had been his female form that had beaten him Ranma shifted back, but for long minutes nothing happened until Neko finally showed a reaction: he roared bloodcurdlingly and held the primal scream for a good minute. Then, suddenly, he dropped his head in a universally understood gesture that signified his surrender.

**'What happens now, Sym?'** Ranma asked her tenant.

– _**I have no idea, Ranma. Maybe you are supposed to touch him? Or I could be wrong… –**_ Sym commented wryly as she hurriedly covered Ranma's face because of the glow that surrounded Neko all of a sudden. Sym had no doubts that she would be able to protect her host sufficiently, but glowing people or things were never a good thing in her opinion, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

The alien symbiote had just finished the covering process when a blinding light emanated from Neko. The light exploded in a soundless wave a few seconds later, and had Ranma not been fully covered by Sym her eyes would have hurt for days. The unexpected explosion made Ranma stagger backwards, but not from its force, for that had been virtually non-existent. No, it was that blinding light, the up till now severed part of her soul that entered her, merged with her. And it was no painless process either, not by any stretch of imagination.

Ranma went to her knees and gripped her head, barely biting back a scream of pain as the merging took place, and her jaws clamped tightly shut with gritted teeth. The tendrils of her combat-suit swirled in wild and erratic patterns around her body, emphasising the excruciating pain the blonde was in. The pain only lessened to more manageable levels that would still have incapacitated lesser humans for days after several minutes, and Ranma kept her teeth clenched inside her mask while the merging process took place.

As Neko was absorbed into her being the blonde was flooded by an onslaught of pictures. They weren't so much as memories, seeing as the Neko-ken had always operated on a more instinctual basis, no, they rather seemed like an old and distorted video. The blonde saw scenes that would have embarrassed her before, in her old life, but now she could smile about them. Especially about that first time when Kuno had found out about the Neko-ken and cats being her weakness. That had been funny. There were also 'memories' that made her angry, the most glaring example being the incident during which she had kissed Akane, only to be malleted away. But that had been her old life. Those people had abandoned her, and she would show them one day what they had given up on and rub it in their faces. That, and making their lives hell on general principles. And it would be a hell much, much worse than the hell one Ryoga Hibiki so often claimed to have visited, she thought darkly.

Minutes later the merging was finally complete, and a weary and exhausted Ranma staggered slowly to her feet. **'Sym, you still there?'**

– _**Yes, Ranma. It took me a while to recover, seeing as I had to shield you from quite a few alterations the Neko-ken wanted to conduct. But I am confident that I succeeded. –**_

**'So, no cat's ears, eye and tail, huh? Not to mention that full-body fur… Yuck. Now that would've given the term 'bed hair' a whole new meaning.'**

– _**Indeed. These alterations would have labelled you as a mutant without a doubt, and we do not want to attract attention. Yet. –**_

**'True. Sym, I'd like to rest now. Feel a bit tired, ya know.'**

– _**Understandable after the trial you just underwent. I will wake you once you are fully rested. Rest well. –**_

**'Thanks, Sym. I will. Thank you for everything.'** Ranma replied and made herself comfortable on the ground. The blonde girl was asleep within seconds and didn't even hear Sym replying, _**– You are welcome. –**_

-.-

Ranma awoke from a soft pull on her consciousness an undetermined amount of time later, this time in the real world as she noticed upon opening her eyes. Sym still formed the weapon-riddled cocoon she had created when the blonde had gone to 'sleep', and Ranma retracted the mass into her own body with nary a thought. Stretching languorously Ranma noticed that the 'cave' that had formerly provided more than enough space was now way too small. Grumbling to herself the blonde crawled out of the hole and adhered to the ceiling of the tunnel for a moment to scan her surroundings. What she saw surprised Ranma greatly. Down below in the waters of the sewer floated hundreds of dead rats, and even a large alligator floated belly up in the shallow waters. The stench emitted from the dead animals was breathtaking in the most literal sense, and Ranma hurriedly crawled down the wall.

She jumped the last three metres downwards and landed gracefully on the small bypath that ran along the sewer and hurried to get away. "Damn, those were a lot of pests that mistook me for a meal…" Ranma mused to herself.

It was only now that she was standing that she noticed that the ground seemed to be much farther away then before. No wonder, Ranma mused as she observed herself critically in the reflecting waters, she had to have grown a good twenty centimetres! Then she remembered her experiences in the dreamscape and the changes to her body, and Ranma shook her head in disbelief.

**'Sym, what the hell didcha do to me? Give me growth pills or something?'** she asked only half-jokingly.

– _**Something similar, Ranma. I simply activated your body's full genetic potential. The potential to become that tall was always there, but as said, your growth had been stunted by the unthinking actions of your father. Along with triggering several growth-spurts and bringing you to a height of approximately 1.78 metres I took the liberty of altering your genetic code to that of a Caucasian. I deemed this form to be least likely in attracting unwarranted attention. –**_

**'WHAT?'** Ranma exclaimed loudly inside her head.

– _**The genes were always there, Ranma, otherwise it would have been impossible for me to do this. Consider, you were a blue-eyed redhead in your female form, while your male form was a blue-eyed raven-haired boy. Would you consider this stereotypical Japanese? –**_

**'Err, not really, Sym. So what's the punch-line?'**

– _**You never were a 'pure' Japanese to begin with. I do not know the exact coherences, but I suspect that one of your grandparents was what Japanese call a 'Gaijin'. Maybe it was because of that that your ex-mother took honour so seriously. She might have been ashamed of her impure ancestry and tried to compensate for it by acting overly traditionalistic. Which is total nonsense, in my opinion. But her views on honour are irrelevant for us, now and forever. –**_

**'Couldn't agree more, Sym. They declared me dead, and they're dead to me. Heh, at least for as long as I need to get back at them. But what do I look like now? The same as in the dreamscape? Hmm, let's take a look…'** Ranma thought as she willed the face-mask off her head.

The face that was revealed to her made Ranma gasp. She had been beautiful as a girl before, but now she was downright gorgeous. Her eyes were still of the same vivid blue, but her face had undergone several radical changes. Where her jaw had been rather pointy before it had squared out now. Her nose had shortened a bit and become a bit wider, and it was now about a centimetre smaller than before. Her mouth had also altered shape and was now a bit wider as well, and Ranma thought it was perfect. The last alteration Ranma noticed was that her cheek-bones were just a tad bit higher. Her ears had roughly kept the same size and shape and complimented the new face perfectly.

Lowly whistling Ranma stared at the new her and let Sym retract into her body to get a full 'mirror' view. She _had_ grown by a good twenty or so centimetres, and her breasts, which had always seemed so overly large on her former so much shorter frame, fit now perfectly. She had kept all her curves, she noticed to her relief, they had just adjusted to her new proportions. Ranma looked at her perfect hour-glass figure in awe, admiring every detail. Her now blonde hair had grown long due to Sym's doing and reached down to her shoulders, and her whole body seemed to have gained the mass that had always been missing in her old girl-form. Not that she had become fat, but the mass that had before always been seemingly magicked away had now added to her new form and had adjusted her proportions to form the body of remarkably beautiful young woman.

"I'll be damned…" Ranma whispered out loud.

– _**Do you like the alterations I made, Ranma? I felt it prudent seeing that no one would ever recognise you looking like this. –**_ Sym remarked.

**'It's awesome, Sym!'** Ranma thought back happily. **'B-But can I change back to my old female self, changes included?'**

– _**Of course. I assume you want me to show you? –**_ Sym asked, already knowing the answer.

**'Yeah. I want to see what I've to give up for what I feel will be a long time. I want to memorise her, to brand her into my brain. I'll never forget who I am and where I came from. I am Ranma Saotome, and I'll clear my name.'** she vowed, face scrunched up in determination.

– _**Very well. I will now initiate the changes. I have to warn you that it will be painful. –**_

**'Understood, Sym. Do it anyway, I'm no stranger to pain.'** she thought bitterly, referring to both the physical and mental pain she had suffered from in her short life.

Sym, who had brought the combat-suit out to cover everything except the face began his alterations instead of answering, and as anticipated by her symbiote, the pain was exquisite. Where before Ranma had slept through the changes her body had undergone she was now wide awake and fully conscious. The blonde had her jaws tightly clenched and grind her teeth so hard she could have made coals into diamonds as she could thusly feel how her bones, muscles, tissues and Kami-sama knows what shifted around inside her body. Her face, shape, height, everything changed as it was adapted to the part-Japanese form, and through all this her tendrils swirled around like wild, emphasising the massive pain their owner was in.

Finally, a good two minutes later the pain lessened as the shapeshifting process came to an end, and Ranma opened her blue eyes. Her sight was a bit bleary at first and the newly made redhead had to wipe her eyes a few times to remove the moisture that had collected in them during the process. Her sight finally restored Ranma surveyed herself in the still waters of the sewers. What she saw didn't surprise her that much. It was her 'normal' female form, albeit a good twenty centimetres taller, with more refined features and a figure that was much more fitting. It wasn't that she was curious about the changes, that was a minor reason, she really wanted to memorise what she would have to give up for quite some time.

**'Too bad I have no hot water available.'** Ranma thought sadly. **'I'd really have loved to see what my male side looks like. You know, in reality and not just in that mindscape.'**

– _**I am sorry, but I cannot help you in that regard. I know of no way to heat up water with the abilities at our hands. –**_

**'S not your fault, Sym. We can't help it, but he won't be forgotten. Even if I'm a Saotome no more, I'll be Ranma forever, regardless how I look on the outside. And one time I'll return to who I was.' **she vowed in her head, memorising every detail of her redhaired self while imagining her birthform with a taller and broader frame at the same time.

– _**We **_**will**_** clear your name eventually, but you will not be able to use the name Ranma for the foreseeable future. In this meantime we will acquire the necessary resources to implement our plans, as discussed. It would now be prudent to change you back, Ranma. –**_

**'Go ahead, Sym. I have what I wanted.'**

-.-

Not three minutes later a now once more Caucasian Ranma stood in the tunnels under New York. **'You did good work, Sym. I really can't wait to see what changes you've made to my boy-form. as soon as we're somewhere in private I'll change back!'** she added giddily.

– _**I will give you a quick run-down to satisfy your curiosity, Ranma. Taking into consideration that your male form is the male equivalent of your currently female DNA the changes should be obvious. He is now a blond, blue-eyed Caucasian of about 1.85 metres, which seems to be quite average for the American population as far as I can tell from the memories of Peter Parker. –**_

**'Peter Parker?'** Ranma questioned as she began walking along the tunnel towards the main-lines. **'How can you have memories of that guy if you were never bonded to another human aside from me?'**

– _**Simple, Ranma. Peter Parker was the human my 'parent' was bonded to for a stretch of time. It is him I derive my spider-powers from, for he, Peter Parker is known as Spider-Man. –**_

**'Wow. I mean, I've heard stories in jail about Spider-Man, but to hear that he's real… He's real, ain't he?'**

– **Very**_** real, Ranma. Without him we would not be here, neither of us. I will give you a short overview while we venture back to more habitable regions. –**_

Ranma gave a mental nod as she took a left-turn, her tendrils automatically doing away with several rats that had suspected an easy prey. _**– Peter Parker encountered my 'parent' during an important and secret event I will let you in on later. All you need to know for now is that my **_**'**_**parent**_**'**_** bonded with the hero Spider-Man and integrated all of his spider-powers into his genetic matrix. Me being my **_**'**_**parents**_**'**_** scion I inherited all of these abilities. Do you follow? –**_

**'Yes, Sym. So, your 'parent' and you, you can, like, absorb all of the powers of a person just by covering them? Say, if I had special powers you'd have integrated them into your genetic matrix, as you call it?'** Ranma thought as she turned right, following the markers she had left on her venture down here.

– _**It is not that simple, Ranma. For a symbiote to be able to do this a complete bond down to the genetic level is required. The same bond you and I share, and my 'parent' and Eddie Brock, his host. Symbiotes can **_**force**_** a bonding, that is true, but we can also be fought off. So yes, we **_**could**_** take another's abilities forcefully, but we can be fought off and fail. –**_

**'I… see. So what are those spider-powers you obviously inherited from your parent, Sym?'**

– _**Super-strength, super-speed and reflexes, super-human agility, the ability to shoot webbing, a danger sense as well as the ability to stick to any surface. We have an alternative to webbing in the form of our tendrils, but we could form webbing just as easily if you should prefer so. –**_ Sym listed.

**'Wow! Those are really cool powers this Spider-Man got! And he's a hero, huh?'** Ranma though as she made another right-turn. **'Can't wait to meet the man.'**

– _**You should exhibit caution when dealing with super-heroes, especially where Spider-Man is concerned. He will be very suspicious if another 'hero' appears with powers so similar to his. –**_

**'Noted, Sym. Say, I don't wanna scare people shitless when I don't go around beating up rapists and stuff. It'd be cool if I'd look just like one of those goody-two-shoes heroes, you know, harmless and unassuming. Do you have a memory of what Spider-Man's costume looked like? The one your 'parent' formed?'**

– _**Yes, Ranma. I could even form it. Do you wish me to do so? –**_

**'Yes, Sym.'** Ranma said and came to a full stop. **'Go ahead.'**

Ranma instantly felt the now familiar feeling of Sym covering her body, and the symbiote now did so in the blink of an eye. The blonde felt the costume shift and reform a few times and had barely blinked her eyes twice when she could already view the end result. Ranma now wore a deep black costume with a stylised spider on the front and back, and like before, it hugged her body like a second skin and emphasised her womanly body.

– _**This is the costume formerly worn by Spider-Man, Ranma. It is also the form my 'parent' takes. However, I feel we should… distinguish ourselves more, don't you think? –**_

**'Definitely. I'll be my own person, and I don't wanna look like either Spider-Man or Venom. Could you, dunno, turn our 'colour' a dark red?'**

– _**Like that? –**_ Sym asked after he had shifted the colour of the suit to adjust Ranma's wishes.

**'Yeah, like that. And now, how about a black widow on the chest and back… about the same size as Venom's in relation to my body-size?'**

– _**Suitable. –**_ Sym commented and formed the requested emblems. _**–**_ _**How do you like it? –**_

**'It's perfect, Sym!'** Ranma replied with a satisfied nod after she had surveyed herself in the sewer-water. **'We can still form the maw and tendrils whenever we feel like it, but I don't think that standing out too much will help us any.'**

– _**Agreed. We will create a suitable costume variant for your male form later. We should now concentrate on returning to the surface, where we will implement steps to set up a legal identity for your forms, as discussed. Then… –**_

Sym stopped in mid-sentence when suddenly loud thumps echoed through the sewer system. Dust trickled from rifts in the porous ceiling, and the blonde cocked her head from left to right. **'What the hell is going on?'**

– _**I do not possess sufficient data to give an accurate answer. However, an educated guess suggests that it is **_**not**_** a natural phenomenon. I would recommend… I see you have begun to think ahead. Commendable. –**_

**'Very funny, Sym.'** replied the now camouflaged girl snidely. **'Are we at full strength? I mean, in case of a conflict…'**

– _**Which you seem to attract like the pied piper does rats. Yes, we **_**are**_** at full strength. –**_

**'Cool! That's all I wanted to know!'** the blonde combat-suit-wearing girl exclaimed as she sprinted ahead to where the sounds had come from.

– _**I had assumed you would say that. –**_ Sym commented wryly.

-.-

Ranma, formerly of the Saotome clan and now clanless ronin, ran at full speeds through the tunnels of the sewers below New York. She had now reached the main routes which allowed her to run upright, and the girl welcomed the change verily. Sure, she had to run in the water because of the rats that literally covered the by-paths, but that was a minor inconvenience in her opinion.

The thumps from whatever it was that made them still echoed through the sewers in a steady rhythm, which made it easy for Ranma to zone in on them. She had just rounded a corner when she caught a glimpse on a silhouette with what looked like four long, metallic legs. **'Bite me, Sym, what the heck **_**is**_** that?'** the redhead-turned-blonde asked, both bows cocked.

– _**That, Ranma, is one of Spider-Man's oldest foes and seemingly our first real test. This is Doctor Octopus. –**_

**'O-O-Octopus?'** she thought incredulously, coming to a flabbergasted stop, **'Who the heck calls themselves Octopus?'** she added, and was hard-pressed not to erupt in full-blown laughter.

– _**A mad scientist. –**_ Sym commented wryly. _**– I suggest you take him **_**very**_** seriously. According to Peter's memories the man is an insane genius, and very dangerous. –**_

**'Okay. First off I gotta find out what he wants here. That stinky sewer ain't my first address, so him being here is very suspect.'**

– _**Him being anywhere but in prison or dead is suspect, Ranma. –**_ Sym corrected. _**– I suggest you follow him before you loose his trail. –**_

**'Agreed. Quite unlikely considering the thumps… ooops.'** Ranma interrupted herself in mid-thought when the thumps suddenly ceased. **'Shit!'**

– _**Quod errat demonstrandum, Ranma. Was it not one of your many sensei who told you to live by the credo 'Constant vigilance'? You seem to be slacking off. –**_ Sym commented teasingly.

**'So not true!'** Ranma shot back with the mental equivalent of a pout as she ran to the position where she had heard the sounds last. **'I just wanted to, err, give him a head-start to make things more interesting. Yeah, that's it.'**

– _**Delude yourself all you want, Ranma, but get a move on, or our first real chance to relieve frustrations will go up in smoke. –**_

**'Yeah, yeah.'** Ranma though back as she made a left-turn to round another corner. Her combat alert eyes quickly scanned the tunnel in front of her, but she saw nothing. **'Hmm, bet he can crawl vertically with these arms too…'** she mused and looked up. **'Bingo!'** she thought as her gaze fell on a broad shaft that lead up. **'Now would be a good opportunity for that webbing you mentioned, Sym.'**

A strange feeling spread through both of her wrists and lasted for a few seconds before disappearing as suddenly as it had come. _**– Point one of your arms upwards and spread the index and pinkie finger. –**_ Sym said in ways of a quick how to.

Ranma did as suggested, and instantly a grey liquid that strongly resembled gossamer shot upwards, making contact somewhere with the wall far above. The blonde grinned because of a new ability that worked as advertised. **'Cool. Now what of our tendrils? We can use them the same way, right?'** she thought as she let go of the webbing, which swung from side to side in the draught without her hand steadying it.

– _**Yes. Just will one of our arms to extend until we reach the upper end, once done will it into a rope. –**_

Ranma nodded and raised her right arm. Then she willed it to extend upwards, and the costume obeyed immediately. The blonde watched in awe as her forearm stretched longer and longer at alarming rates without loosing any width. Her tendrils weaved themselves around her arm in an almost crazy fashion, literally spiralling upwards. Her extended 'arm' finally collided with something up there with a noisy splat, and Ranma willed the 'line' into a rope just as Sym had explained. The line thinned instantly to a narrow but very stable rope, and Ranma jumped upwards instinctively, literally sucking the rope into herself. The blonde would have whooped with joy had it not been for the fact that she was following a dangerous villain. Which meant beating up the bad guy first, whooping later. Life was just no fun, as usual.

-.-

Ranma landed soundlessly in another tunnel-section, glued to its ceiling thanks to her assimilated spider-powers. After a quick check of the area she thought she had heard a muffled thump which might havd originated from Doc Ock's mechanical arms, and seizing her chance she jumped to the ground and began to sprint. The numerous rats that tried to attack her were simply discarded, and Sym formed rotating razor-sharp blades around Ranma's calves that took care of the pests that proved to be stubborn. After about two minutes of sprinting Ranma came to yet another shaft that led upwards, and this time she heard the unmistakeable thumps of four mechanical arms. **'Got him!'** Ranma crowed.

– _**You have got his **_**trail**_**, not him. See that you change this. –**_ Sym teased.

**'Incorrigible know-it-all symbiote...'** Ranma muttered and jumped upwards. She had tested out both webbing and tendrils, this time she wanted to see how effective plain old jumping was.

Her jump catapulted her the whole way straight upwards, and Ranma had to use a considerable part of her strength to dig her claws into the tunnel-ceiling to prevent from breaking through tons of massive rock. She was slightly embedded into the rock as it was, but it could have been worse. **'Holy shit!'** Ranma exclaimed with wide eyes, exhaling sharply. **'I mean, I can jump really high, but that... That was ridiculous! That shaft gotta be what? Five hundred metres long? That's insane!'**

– _**I believe your species has a saying that expresses the happening adequately: you can say that again. I had obviously underestimated how your life-energy would react to my enhancing you, Ranma. I apologise for any inconvenience. –**_

Ranma chuckled darkly, then broke out into a fit of giggles. **'That was soooo cool! When can we do that again?'** she asked giddily.

– _**You can jump tunnels, buildings or anything else up and down to your hearts content once you have apprehended our opponent, Ranma. See it as a field-test of our abilities. –**_

**'Gotcha, Sym. Now to catch me a calamari...'** Ranma thought as she jumped gracefully to the ground.

The blonde broke out into a sprint and followed the muffled thumps that could be heard in the distance. Ranma noticed that the tunnels around here, wherever that was, were of a better quality. This tunnel-system didn't seem to be part of the sewers, it looked more like maintenance-tunnels to her. Wherever she looked, no rats, no spider webs, nothing. It seemed like this tunnel-system was cleaned constantly.

After running for several minutes and many more turns Ranma emerged in an underground cavern of sorts. She instantly noticed that something was amiss here and activated her camouflage abilities to A) be on the safe side and B) have the element of surprise. Next she scouted the cavern, which was actually easy for her due to the senses Sym provided her with. The cavern was about twenty square-metres in size by Ranma's estimations, and roughly oval shaped. Its rocky ceiling was high enough so that an average person could stand upright, and it made for a nice change from the low tunnels in the lowers sewers.

Ranma concluded from the structure of the rock surrounding her that this was a natural cavern. She had been in more than enough of those as well as man-made caverns to know the difference, and she scanned the cavern for anomalies right after she had come to this conclusion. A normal human being might not have noticed, probably not even with a Maglite, but something was amiss here. But she didn't know what, yet. She knew that Doc Ock had passed through this cavern, he had to have, but which path had he used? The blonde redoubled her efforts, and due to her hyper-concentrated state it didn't take her long until her honed senses, which had only been augmented by Sym picked up on something. Tentacle-marks on the ground. Barely visible, but they were there. And they led to a certain part of the cavern towards… A tunnel!

A tunnel had at one point led out of the cavern in the left rear part of the cavern, but it was very hard to notice. Its entrance had caved in, or rather been voluntarily caved in, as Ranma noticed. Doc Ock, for it had to have been him, had done a good job on covering his tracks, but someone like her picked up on the signs right away. To most it might have looked like a natural rockslide that had spilled the tunnel, but Ranma knew now that it had been the Doc.

**'What would happen if I used a Moko… an energy blast on the entrance? You reckon the cavern might cave in?' **

– _**I do not think so, Ranma. According to my calculations one of your normal Moko Takabishas should not be overly detrimental to the structural integrity of the cavern. A double Moko Takabisha whereas would exceed the tolerances I have estimated. But if I may inquire, why did you stop yourself from naming your standard energy attack as it is? –**_

Ranma growled inside her mind.**'Because I've got nothing left to be confident about. All that's left inside me is anger, resentment and bitterness.'** she replied in a hard voice.

Sym gave her the mental equivalent of a nod. _**– I understand. I see from your memories that one needs to draw on a positive emotion rather than a negative… Interesting. Ranma, I have a suggestion that might solve our problem. While it would be possible to dig through this rockslide an energy attack would work much faster. –**_

**'What do you suggest, Sym?'** Ranma asked.

– _**Concentrate on your focus to get revenge against those who wronged you. On your determination to clear your name. Make your determination the emotion you need, make it your drive. You want to get revenge, do you not? –**_ Sym whispered seductively.

Ranma snarled inside her mind and found a new drive for her energy attack in an instant. All that had been needed was thinking about Akane, Nabiki, her ex-mother and their betrayal. They, and all the others that had abandoned her would get their just desserts. "Tadashii fungeki!" she yelled, and a yellow energy blast stained with black tendrils escaped her palms.

– _**Righteous fury. Intriguing and fitting. You should limit yourself to firing this attack soundlessly in the future, the alternative would reveal your origins all too quickly. –**_ Sym commented.

The blonde gave the mental equivalent of a nod and watched her energy attack as it continued to pour from her palms. Instead of the usual blue ball of confidence ki her Moko Takabisha was made up of a steady yellow-black beam of energy that escaped Ranma's palm, drilling into the rocky surface at remarkable speeds. Ranma's eyes shot open in surprise inside her mask and the blonde whistled lowly in appreciation. Appreciation that turned into caution.

**'I really have to find another emotion to focus onto, it's just too negative. The way I see it it could make me slip just as easily as Ryoga and his depression. Ryoga, feh, just another one that abandoned me. But that doesn't change it, I have to find an alternative.'** Ranma thought.

She could feel Sym pout inside her mind. _**– Indulging into some sprees of violence would really do you a world of good. –**_ the symbiote suggested. _**– Aimed at the appropriate targets, of course. –**_ she amended.

**'But not at the cost of my emotions, Sym, even though they seem to be limited to bitterness, anger, resentment and all that stuff right now. If I keep on using those emotions to power my energy-blasts it won't end well.'** Ranma replied seriously.

– _**Then find an alternative once we have time at our hands. –**_

**'You can bet your ass on it.'** Ranma commented with a nod.

– _**Technically, I **_**have**_** no ass. –**_ Sym retorted smugly.

**'Insufferable, incorrigible symbiote, you!'** the blonde thought back in mock-indignation.

Ranma had held the beam steady for a good ten seconds, the time their mental conversation had taken up, and marched towards the reopened entrance as soon as she had cancelled the beam to survey her handiwork.

"I'll be damned. This damn energy beam blasted through a good fifty metres of solid rock!" Ranma exclaimed giddily.

– _**That is why I recommended a single blast, even for this variant. My calculations are based on your increased energy output. But now do not waste any more time, Ranma. We have a villain to beat up. –**_

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Ranma mock-saluted and sprinted through the newly reopened tunnel.

-.-

From here on out it was easy for Ranma to follow the trail of Doctor Octopus, who hadn't bothered to hide his tracks anymore after the rockslide he had left. It took Ranma a great deal of running, climbing and reading tracks, but in the end the host of Sym emerged in what suspiciously looked like the strongroom of a bank. The massive vault-door had been cleanly knocked off its hinges and had shattered a massive formerly fettled brick-wall, revealing what seemed to be a lunch room for the guards. Gun shots could be heard from an adjacent room, and Ranma hurried out of the strongroom, dropping her invisibility.

A corridor led away from the strongroom, and in following it the blonde arrived at the crime scene, the main room of the bank. The bank took up two stories of the building, and the single, rectangular room that took up those two stories was about a hundred square-metres in size. It was apparent that its designers had made optimal use of the givens. Tasteful but massive columns made of marble, which looked rather like pieces of art than supports for the ceiling caught the bank customers eye, and the working desk of the bank employees had been strategically placed on the right side of the room to deal with the customers requests most efficiently. Offices were located on the left side behind trendy glass doors, most probably for private conversations and consultations, and a wooden staircase with metal handrails led to the second story and more offices.

A stylish fountain had been placed in the middle of the room, and steel and glass dominated in the modern bank. Aesthetic sculptures were discreetly scattered over the entirety of the room and gave the bank customers something artful to admire while they waited in the inevitable queue. It was here that she got her first real glimpse on Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus. The evil scientist who wore a long black trench coat and black leather trousers did meet up to the expectations Ranma had acquired due to the many Gaijin movies she had seen at the Tendos. Octavius was portly and seemed to be in an overall rather bad physical shape, as Ranma noticed from her hiding place behind a column. But his not so impressive physique didn't belie the menace of this man.

It became very apparent that Doc Ock was no pushover when two of his four tentacles wrapped themselves around a column, ripping it out of its foundation with ease. The heavy column became airborne a few seconds later and flew straight at a group of guards that kept firing at Doc Ock despite the fact that his two other tentacles deflected the gunfire easily, causing dangerous ricochets. But people around here fortunately possessed more common sense than your average Neriman, for they had taken shelter like good people should.

Ranma used all of her speed to run over towards the guards, and to everyone else only a dark-red blur could be seen that suddenly materialised out of thin air. The blonde had her hands already outstretched and caught the column easily with two hands, before switching it to her right hand where she balanced it. Doc Ock had time to ask "What?" before Ranma threw the column right back at him with the remark "Here, return to sender."

The only difference between the throws was that Ranma's held a lot more power, and Doc Ock was forced to use three of his four tentacles to slash it to pieces while his fourth tentacle steadied him. The mad scientist surveyed Ranma, much like everyone else. Mutterings spread through the room, but Ranma ignored them as she surveyed Doc Ock.

"Caught the column and threw it back at him! With _one_ hand!"

"That crazy tentacle guy's Doc Ock! But who's she?"

"Dunno, but whoever she is, she's damn strong and got a damn hot bod, that's for sure!"

Another voice spoke up, a cold, commanding voice that fitted Otto Octavius to a tee. "Who are you?" was his simple question.

Ranma grinned inside her face-mask. That had been the question she had been waiting for. "I am she who has a lot of pent up aggression, and I intend to take them out on you. I am she who will kick your butt, calamari. I am Scarlet Widow."

**to be continued**…

******Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. **

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board for their continued great help. **

**And last but not least, many thanks to my beta for this story, Ordieth. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

**A/N: Another chapter done. Woot! Had to stop here before it grew any longer, but I'll jump right into the fight between Ranma and Doc Ock next chapter, which will (hopefully) get out soon.**

**The changes Ranma underwent will become pretty apparent in the next chapter, plus, Ranma will have the first encounter with none other than Spidey.**

**Don't worry, dear readers, I have not forgotten about Ranma-kun. He will have his appearance in a few, and I will make up for initially favouring Ranma-chan. Actually, I am planning to achieve a balance between male and female appearances. So long. **

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter: **

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	5. The first real test

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 5: The first real test**

February the 13th, 1995 was a rather typical winter day. Busy New Yorkers wrapped up in thick clothes – including all assorted winter clothing such as gloves, scarves and caps – braved the bitter cold as they frequented the pavement of New York's streets. Businessmen and others alike tried to make the best of their midday break on this cold Monday as an unrelenting wind churned a steady stream of thick grey clouds over the sky, the promise of more snow being omnipresent.

The guards of the Commerce Bank located at the 43rd and Third Avenue had been all too happy that none of them had to go outside in this damn cold weather; this February ranked among the 31st coldest winter months ever according to the weather forecast, and this month had brought a virtual shitload of snow. They had joked about how the poor suckers who worked in the Mobil building across from them had to hurry to their usual vendors to get their lunch without their fingers freezing stiff despite the gloves, but their laughter had died on their lips when the bank had been raided. Raided by none other than Doctor Octopus at exactly 12.07 p.m.

Despite their knowledge of being as effective against this dangerous super villain as a flamethrower underwater they'd engaged him and opened fire, but it hadn't gone over well. Three of them had been injured by ricochets caused by Doc Ock deflecting their shots, and some of them would've even been killed, had it not been for a mysterious costumed young woman who had appeared out of nowhere and who seemed to be a match for the betentacled man.

Huddled in the rearmost corner together with the customers and the bank employees they took care of their wounded that'd all been in luck; two of them had suffered through and through bullet wounds in their left and right shoulders respectively, the other had suffered a grazing shot in his right thigh. They knew the young woman had most likely saved a lot of lives, theirs among them, and for that she'd earned their respect. Now their hopes, all their hopes rested on said young woman who'd called herself 'Scarlet Widow'.

-.-

Doctor Octopus and Ranma, now known in her alias of 'Scarlet Widow', faced off in a classic duelling pose. While this was not the most unusual of encounters for a city like New York where fights between superpowered beings were quite common it was nonetheless one Doctor Octopus didn't take lightly. Not any more, at least. The power with which his opponent, a newcomer who called herself Scarlet Widow had thrown the heavy column classified her as someone he had to take seriously, even if she was an up till now unknown superpowered being and most probably a rookie. The costume design suggested a connection to Spider-Man, gauging from the stylised spider on the front side of the woman's skin tight costume, and this likely seeming connection irritated Otto Octavius a great deal; yet another annoying Spider that dared to thwart his plans. He would crush her as soon as he'd finished preparing some 'surprises' he'd actually reserved for Spider-Man, if he would need them against this apparent rookie at all. But it was better to be safe than sorry, for the well organised mind allowed for all possibilities, thought Doctor Octavius as he disguised his preparations as a visual examination of Scarlet Widow.

The combat-suit-clad blonde on her part didn't really appreciate being ogled, and she waited for a move, any move of her opponent; but Otto Octavius just stood there with his tentacles whipping around him in obvious agitation as he seemed to study Ranma like a particularly interesting insect. She was hard pressed to keep her own tendrils in, tendrils that wanted nothing more than to grab the mechanical appendages and throw the arrogant man through a nice concrete wall or twenty, preferably face-first. Not that she disagreed with Sym on the matter, but she was really itching for a fight here, not a slaughter. So fight first, slaughter later, possibly, depending on the actions of Doctor Octopus.

Ranma began tapping her foot impatiently when Doctor Octopus hadn't stopped surveying her a full minute later. "I know I've got a gorgeous body, but that's getting ridiculous. So if you'd attack and get it outta the way, I don't have all day, you know."

"She sure is full of herself." one customer chuckled from behind a desk.

"Yeah." another agreed. "But she _has_ got a gorgeous body, no doubt 'bout that."

Doctor Octopus brown eyes glinted dangerously behind his goggles as he fixated Ranma. "You're _indeed_ very full of yourself, little insect. You remind me too much of another annoying pest, and I'll crush you as easily as him." he promised confidently and suppressed his glee over the fact that he'd most likely have the chance to test his newest inventions under battle conditions.

"So you claim. But can you back your claims up, squid?" Ranma asked cockily.

"Talk and boasts. Is that all you can do except throwing columns, little girl?" Octavius asked.

–**_You really must stop treating conflicts as if they were those friendly brawls you engrossed in with your rivals in Nerima. People like Otto Octavius are infinitely more dangerous, and they will not hesitate to _kill_ you. And before you argue that your rivals repeatedly tried the same I can refute this easily; A) your rivals seldom had the means to truly kill you, and B) if they actually had they did not act on it because of their morals or incompetence or C) you were stronger and/or more skilled than them. This memory regarding a certain Ryoga Hibiki and this koi fishing rod is one of the most glaring examples. The villains we will face _here_ are on an entirely different level. They are _not_ teens who engross in brawls; these are people who will kill you without batting an eye if you make one tiny mistake. –_** Sym commented before her host could return the insult.

Ranma blinked inside her mask as what Sym had said hit home. **'Noted, Sym. If this guy turns out to be as bad as you say I'll act according to the lessons I learned in jail.'** she vowed darkly.

"No answer? Have you finally realised whom you're up against? But now it's too late." Octavius taunted and let his tentacles whip through the air in a threatening manner. "No witty remarks or vows of 'I'll beat you' as heroes are prone to claim will help you. No famous last words? Now would be the time."

"Come on, Scarlet Widow! Kick his ass!" someone among the customers exclaimed.

"Yeah, don't listen to the arrogant shithead! He can't hold a candle to Spidey, and I bet he can't hold a candle to you either!" another customer encouraged.

"Quiet!" Octavius commanded coldly, and his over seven metres long tentacles whipped towards the group of customers that had cheered Ranma on.

Said Ranma narrowed her eyes inside her mask and blurred away, reappearing in front of the group that had acted as her moral support. She immediately caught the onrushing trio of tentacles in both hands and held them in a deathgrip.

"Wrong move, asshole." Ranma said in a deadly quiet tone that sent shivers up and down the spines of everyone. "You mistook my silence for weakness, squid. I just had a nice lil' tête-à-tête with the voices in my head; you know what we discussed? No? Oh, just the two-hundred ways of preparing squid." she added maliciously.

The customers looked wide-eyed from Ranma who held the infamous super strong tentacles in an unrelenting death-grip without even being taxed to a very surprised Doctor Octopus, who visibly struggled to free his tentacles without apparent success.

"Who_are_ you?" Otto Octavius asked again, this time with a hint of worry in his cold voice, "Not even Spider-Man is strong enough to hold my tentacles for this long."

"She's stronger than Spidey?"

"And waaayy cuter!"

"But I ain't never heard of Scarlet Widow before! She new?"

"Be that as it is, no one will hear anything from her either way once I'm done with her." Doctor Octopus said coldly as he let himself to the ground, and instantly let his fourth tentacle, which had up till now steadied his body lash out at Ranma's head.

Octavius thought Scarlet Widow too preoccupied with his other three tentacles and grinned nastily in anticipation; he was so sure of his victory that he was proverbially blown away when Ranma switched the three tentacles to a one-handed grip in her left hand without losing any strength and caught the onrushing fourth in her right hand with apparent ease.

"Is that all?" Ranma asked with obvious disappointment in her voice.

Doctor Octopus, who was now in the unfortunate situation to have all four of his tentacles captured, showed visible signs of frustration and fury on his face; try as he might, he absolutely couldn't free any of his artificial arms. "You are definitely much stronger than Spider-Man. An interesting surprise. But I don't like surprises, and therefore I have come prepared. Say hello to a surprise engineered by my genius." he said arrogantly and pointed one of his tentacles that was adequately positioned at Ranma's face.

A buzz went off in the back of her head, and Ranma instinctively pointed the said tentacle upwards along with the others. A red beam of light shot out of the arm that had been pointed at her face and drilled a hole into the ceiling; chips of stone and dust rained down from the damaged ceiling, and Ranma looked shocked inside her face mask. She involuntarily let go of the tentacles.

"You… You Asshole! You could've killed someone!" she screamed at him.

Doctor Octopus surveyed her coldly. "That was the plan, yes. It is unfortunate that the initial try failed, but I'll correct my failing soon." he said calmly and opened fire anew.

Ranma avoided repeated angry-red beams of energy due to the buzz inside her head that warned her ahead of time; she'd correctly identified said buzz as the danger sense Sym had told her about, and she'd been right, it came in very handy. The spider sense was indeed damned useful seeing that many more laser beams came flying her way, damaging furniture, ornamental plants, columns and generally everything in their path, and the blonde proved just how agile and dexterous she was as she avoided the said beams through every acrobatic move her vast repertoire had to offer.

The host of Sym took great care not to endanger the customers as she avoided the beams, and a frown marred her face inside her face mask as chips of stone and dust continued to rain from the ceiling courtesy of missed beams. **'He really won't stop at anything to remove the obstacle, me. Crazy nut.'** Ranma thought as she weaved a complex pattern through the room that led them away from the hiding customers who'd retreated even further from the battling duo.

–**_This is a good example of what I told you earlier. There are beings that will not hesitate to kill you, and they will feel enjoyment and pleasure from it. People like him would kill innocents just to get to you, Ranma. Must I really remind you of the lessons you learned during your stay in prison? –_** Sym queried.

'**Not really.'** Ranma replied as she dodged and weaved around a new bout of attacks faster than the naked eye could follow. **'You're right, Sym. My being free led me to believe that everything was back to normal, it tempted me to forget about my time in prison. But how could I ever forget what I learned in that hellhole? Trust no one but yourself. Only the strongest survive, even out here. Life's a war, and those who want to survive have to do what's necessary. Things are far from normal, maybe they never will be. Now is the time to employ what I learned. The playful kid Ranma that toyed with his opponents is dead, he died at Ryker's. I am all that's left.'** she thought darkly as she landed soundlessly behind a counter.

Doctor Octopus, who'd just aimed his laser tentacle at her didn't have any time to react as Ranma suddenly blurred and reappeared not one metre away from him; she grabbed the laser tentacle with her right hand and gave it a really strong tug. The force behind the tug was so great that the tentacle was literally ripped off at its base, and Ranma let it clatter to the ground dispassionately; her face suddenly contorted into a furious expression inside her face mask as she switched into the necessary state of mind, and as soon as Ranma had brought her palms into position over the writhing tentacle she fired a Tadashii fungeki at it while Otto Octavius and everyone else seemed to be frozen in place. The angry yellow and black energy beam engulfed the still writhing mechanical appendage and reduced it to its raw materials within seconds, leaving a good-sized crater filled with bubbling molten metal in the former immaculate marble flooring.

Ranma would've continued her assault, but the fact that the man's remaining three tentacles whipped around like crazy in progressively erratic patterns gave her pause and made the blonde cautiously observe her enemy, and she switched into a seemingly relaxed stance about nine metres away from his position. Her only seemingly loose stance allowed her to spring into action immediately, but she was not in a hurry here, and a drawn out beating was really after her taste; she would not toy with him, but she would inflict pain. Sym had been right, he _was_ as bad as she'd said, and that scum deserved it. Everything.

"Nobody tries to shoot me without paying the price, asshole." she said dangerously, hoping to goad him back into the fight with her comment.

Otto Octavius didn't seem to have heard her, he just looked stupidly at the stump that had seconds ago been one of his tentacles, then at the crater in the marble flooring filled with a puddle of metal that had moments before been his fourth tentacle; the pain from the amputation caught up with him, and his face contorted in agony.

"No… No…" he gasped, shaking his head, "Not this… Again…"

"Damn!" one of the customers exclaimed when he'd overcome his shock, "She fuckin' tore out one of his tentacles!"

"Bloody hell! She's ruthless!" another customer agreed.

"Doc Ock doesn't look happy 'bout it…"

And truly, Otto Octavius fixated Ranma with a mixture of pain and fury beyond reason. "YOU! What have you done to me, you bitch? For that you'll pay!" he raged, and his remaining three tentacles lashed out at the blonde.

Ranma calmly stood her ground in face of the incoming danger. "Lesson One…" she muttered darkly, "Maim them if necessary and don't feel regret. They don't deserve better. Lesson Two… If maiming ain't enough… Down them. _Hard_."

In the next millisecond Ranma had already disappeared and reappeared almost instantly in Ock's face, his tentacles grasping at nothing but air; said face of the bespectacled man was immediately used as a punching bag. The strong blow to the point of the chin shot the betentacled man backwards off of his feet and through several columns and the front door of the bank which was destroyed beyond recognition until he finally impacted a housewall across the street; just the fact that Octopus' tentacles had reacted automatically by stopping the impact had saved him from grave injuries.

"Lesson Three…" Ranma intoned as the customers watched her with awe and trepidation, "if your opponent plays stubborn repeat Lesson Two until the result is satisfactory."

That said Ranma stalked out of the bank, her long blonde hair billowing behind her in an unseen breeze.

"Damn! She's brutal!"

"Hey, she gets the job done! Shitbags like Doc Ock don't deserve any better! You show him, girl!"

The redhead-turned-blonde turned her head around and winked once. "Don't worry, I will. And I'll enjoy it." she said and walked on without looking back.

-.-

Ranma allowed herself no further distractions as she determinedly walked out of the Commerce bank building, which was located at the 43rd and Third Avenue as she noticed once outside. She saw that her opponent had managed to get to his feet, and he was glaring at what seemed to be a passerby who was clad in a dark suit and who'd apparently stopped to mock him. This man, whoever he was, had courage; all other passersby had fled the immediate area long ago. Doc Ock hadn't noticed her yet, and deciding that she could free this potential hostage later she camouflaged herself. She would limit herself to observing the situation, for now. Doc Ock would not be able to run out on her anyway.

"If that isn't Doctor Octopus," the middle aged man, said courageous passerby, exclaimed, and Ranma watched him closely; he had close-cropped black hair that was greying at the temples, a moustache that was totally out of style and smoked a cigar with pleasure. "Has one of those so-called heroes done a job on you again or why are you missing one of your artificial appendages, Ock?"

"Jameson." Doctor Octopus growled and brought all three of his tentacles forward; a smug look appeared on the bespectacled man's face as his newly made middle tentacle wrapped itself around Jameson's waist while the others searched the publisher of the Daily Bugle for weapons, just in case.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ock? Put me to the ground pronto or I'll sue you to Kingdome Come! Better yet, you'll get the worst press coverage ever!" Jameson yelled.

Doctor Octopus just snorted. "Spare me with your childish ranting, Jameson." he said and continued his search. Finding nothing the Doctor flipped the cursing and struggling man on the head.

"Spider-Man, where is that so called hero if one needs him?" Jameson ranted. "Probably too scared, the coward!"

Doctor Octopus snorted in amusement as his tentacles carried him over the Third Avenue at high speed and cold-shouldered the Chrysler building as he headed directly towards a tall skyscraper whose 'skin' oddly looked as if the building was coming down with measles; he was so focussed on his destination that he didn't even notice that passersby frantically scrambled out of his way.

The betentacled man finally stopped in front of the Socony-Mobil building and brought Jameson in front of his face. "It wasn't one of your usual heroes, Jameson, nor was it your loathed Spider-Man. It was a newcomer, and due to the fact that you'll keep bugging me because of your so called profession I will tell you already that I encountered a young heroine who called herself 'Scarlet Widow'. It was she who cost me my arm, and while its loss is unfortunate I have prepared for such an incident. I will conduct repairs and plot my revenge in my lair, and _you_ will ensure that the heroine won't attack me any further." he explained condescendingly as he started his ascent of the building, his middle tentacle holding the publisher of the Daily Bugle securely in an unrelenting grip.

Otto Octavius ignored Jameson's ranting and threw a look over his shoulder to come to know how much of a ledge he had, and a grin spread on his face when he saw the approaching Ranma, who had dropped her invisibility during her pursuit of Doc Ock. "And there she is. The heroine has come to save the day. Isn't it just too bad that her heroic attempt at a rescue won't go according to script?" he said to Jameson, who tried to get a glimpse on Scarlet Widow but saw nothing; Doc Ock's was so engrossed in taunting his opponent that he'd completely missed that Ranma had shimmered from view yet again before the blonde had started her own ascent.

"You really should've stayed in your office at the Bugle. Now you'll be my ticket to safety where I'll analyse my encounter with the insignificant pest that dared to injure me. I vow I'll bring the insolent wench to her knees for what she did to me."

That comment brought the publisher of the Daily Bugle out of his ranting as impotent fury changed into amusement. "That's a good one, Ock. You got beat up by a _woman_?" Jameson snorted, completely ignoring the danger he was in in face of the next headline.

Doctor Octopus' face visibly darkened and a frown appeared as the brown eyes behind his goggles locked with Jameson's blue ones. "You're treading very thin ice here, Jameson." he said coldly as he continued to climb upwards. "We're a good sixty metres up, and I don't have to tell you that a fall from this height would turn you into an interesting concrete demonstration of the working principles behind gravity."

"Why," a female voice suddenly exclaimed from above, "I always thought one just had to know that the higher up something is the deeper it'll fall. And methinks a squid would make a very interesting splat on the pavement. But we'll get to this, eventually."

Before Doctor Octopus had even finished craning his neck upwards he felt a strong tug on the tentacle that was holding Jameson, and the next he knew was that his hostage had been freed. Doctor Octopus cursed that the situation had spun so far out of his control, but try as he might, he couldn't come up with an explanation as to how the one called Scarlet Widow had pulled this off. He'd no way of knowing that a camouflaged Ranma had crawled up the building in record time and had easily overtaken them, something he'd missed completely due to his mocking speech.

Doctor Octopus was now faced with the problem that he'd to deal with the heroine that had already ripped out one of his arms, and he knew from his surveillance of the area that a helicopter, his getaway vehicle after his coup, was standing on top of the building a good one hundred metres above. But what to do, that was the question on his mind as he surveyed the female hero. His coup had turned rotten, and the getaway vehicle into his most promising chance to escape; there was just the problem that Scarlet Widow was blocking the way. It was time to use that genius intellect of his, Otto Octavius mused.

Ranma on her part was easily carrying the man Doctor Octopus had called Jameson under her left arm while adhering to the surface of the shining skyscraper made of glass and steel with her right hand and both feet. She noticed that Jameson was quickly overcoming the shock her unexpected manoeuvre had caused him; the man looked up at her with angry eyes and a very red face.

"Are you crazy pulling a stunt like this! You could have killed me!" he bellowed, making Ranma nearly cringe due to the sheer volume.

"You mean saving your life was a crazy stunt?" Ranma asked with her ki distorting her voice. "I've done way crazier things."

"What are you? Another god damn boyscout? No, you're a woman, then a cheerleader perhaps?" Jameson asked snidely.

Ranma frowned inside her mask. "Sure as hell not. I just do what's necessary. Helping you seemed to be. But I'll gladly return you to his care if you don't shut up." she replied and meant it.

Jameson scowled. "What kinda hero are you?" he demanded, and craned his neck to the right to give Ranma a good lookover. "Oh no," he added as soon as he caught sight of the Spider symbol, "not another one!"

"Dunno what you're rambling about, but I ain't no hero. I do what I feel is right, and if the world don't agree with that it's their problem, not mine. Bloody world owes me anyway. Got me? I do what's necessary, and I use whatever means to do so. You don't like being freed through my 'stunt'? Tough." Ranma retorted in a cold and indifferent voice.

"Necessary…" a voice exclaimed from above, interrupting whatever Jameson was about to say, "Good catchword."

Doctor Octopus' two unoccupied tentacles shot forward without warning while his third steadied his body on the skyscraper's surface; it was plain obvious that the evil scientist planned to throw down Jameson which would busy the heroine with saving him. But the blonde reacted like liquid lightning; her feet made full contact with the building's surface seconds before the tentacles reached their position and Ranma bent her knees in the same movement and then used her strong legs to push herself and Jameson off.

Otto Octavius stared after them for a moment and cussed that his attack had failed, but being the practical thinking man that he is Doc Ock quickly focussed on his escape and reassumed his ascent at a quick pace, hoping that his ledge would be sufficient to allow him a tactical retreat.

J. Jonah Jameson on his part focused on keeping his lunch down; a surprised yelp had escaped him due to the unexpected manoeuvre Ranma had performed, but the man didn't scream as she would've expected; that showed strength of character that she could respect in spite of the man's obvious ego.

"Get a good hold on your hat, the ride ain't over yet." Ranma said matter-of-factly.

Jameson had time to ask "What the hell do you mean?" when Ranma had already shot a string of webbing from her right hand at a position twenty metres above from where she'd left off, and began swinging towards the building with a Tadashii fungeki writhing in her left palm.

Jonah had just exclaimed "Not another webslinger!" when his eyes went wide due to the massive looking office window that approached at breakneck speeds.

As soon as they were just about ten metres away from said window Ranma fired the ki-blast silently, shattering the thick glass completely. The blonde and her 'passenger' were showered with glass as they swung into a generous sized office of about twenty-five square metres, and a very surprised young and attractive Afro-American woman clad in a formfitting off-white costume exclaimed a shocked "Hey!" as she was startled out of her work.

"That… That was…" a shocked J. Jonah Jameson exclaimed, his mind still trying to kick back into gear.

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me with the thanks. Gotta catch me the squid before he gets away." Ranma said, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"You… You're Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle! I'm Debbie Trent and…" the owner of the office exclaimed just as her door was suddenly opened.

"Debbie? Is everything okay?" a tall, blonde Caucasian asked, cocking his head from left to right; his gaze fell on Jameson, Ranma and the broken glass on the floor. "What the hell happened here? And who's_she_?" he asked, pointing at Ranma.

"You tell him." Ranma said towards Jameson. "I ain't got time for this shit." she exclaimed and seemed to reappear at the broken office window; with one graceful jump Ranma catapulted herself out of the office, the jump taking her nearly all the way to the adjacent building a hundred metres away.

A collision was imminent when Ranma finally shot her webbing, and the grey string collided with the surface of the skyscraper she'd vacated seconds ago. Ranma could see Jameson and the employees of whatever firm standing at the office window, and she thought she saw Jameson shake his head in dismay. She watched how the man pulled out something that looked like a mobile phone but the blonde didn't care as she swung upwards. Webslinging was actually surprisingly easy and made a lot of fun, she thought as she continued on her upwards swing towards her opponent.

The good doc had nearly reached the rooftop, nearly being the catchword here. Ranma felt the air rush past her and her long hair billowed behind her as she closed in on him, her left fist already reared back while her right hand held on to the string of webbing. Doctor Octopus seemed to sense something in the last possible moment and brought two of his tentacles forward as soon as his eyes had registered her movement, but the blonde had brought out her own tendrils as well; the upper stories they were now at looked pretty much uninhabited to her, thus she'd figured that no one would see her anyway; and on the other hand she didn't really care either way.

This man had hazarded the consequences when he'd attacked the innocent and weak, he deserved everything coming his way; and she'd ensure that a lot would be coming his way. She felt how Sym formed the hideous face she'd dubbed the 'monster visage' shortly before colliding with Doctor Octopus, and her tendrils wrapped around his tentacles on her mental command, rendering the mechanical appendages useless.

And then Ranma was in his face, relishing in the shocked expression the betentacled man wore. His mouth moved, but he'd no chance to form words which was due to the fact that Ranma's fist was simply faster; her left hook met his jaw with a sickening crunch that indicated a lot of broken bones, and truly, she'd put so much force behind the punch that Doctor Octopus, who was screaming in pain, was sent crashing straight through the building, shattering the thick window of yet another office.

Ranma adhered to the building's surface and crawled through the hole she'd made. Her feet made soundless contact with the ground as she landed gracefully in the office which was about the size of Debbie's several stories beneath, careful not to step on the glass that had spread everywhere she looked around and noticed to her relief that the story she'd punched Doctor Octopus through was currently in the process of being renovated and thus indeed uninhabited. The room she'd entered was absolutely bare and empty; it was of the usual dust-grey colour one generally associated with construction in progress, and Ranma grinned inside her face mask. That was practically an invitation to cause more chaos and destruction.

With that thought in mind she broke into a full run, sprinting through the Doctor Octopus shaped holes in the walls. She grinned viciously inside her mask as she ran through the story at blinding speeds, easily jumping over the debris from destroyed walls; she packed quite a punch and it seemed that she'd blown Doctor Octopus straight through the complete story, from North to South. She finally reached the room furthest away from the impact site, but there was no trace of her opponent.

"Betcha he thinks he's super clever and uses the East or West side."

Ranma climbed out of the open window and promptly glued herself to the wall; she then righted herself up and left only her feet glued to the surface, and then she began to run, from the South side to the West side. But no Doctor Octopus there, to her utter frustration. The blonde resumed her run, cussing like a sailor the whole way as she crossed over from the East to the North end and finally over to the West side. Glued to the surface as she was Ranma started looking around, and barely suppressed a shout of glee as she caught sight of her prey. There he was, a good one hundred metres below her position.

"Seems he's given up on trying to reach the rooftop with me up here. Doesn't like my punch, eh?"

–**_The relevant data indicates this. However, the man obviously thinks he can escape us by running away. He will come to experience how futile his efforts are. –_** Sym said in a bloodthirsty voice.

Ranma chuckled darkly as she increased her speed on her downwards run. "Oh yeah."

-.-

**A few minutes earlier**

J. Jonah Jameson was standing in the office of Debbie Trent, and he completely ignored the cold wind that entered the office from the broken window. He was deep in thought, and the fingers of his left hand rubbed his chin repeatedly as he gazed out of the window frame, not really seeing anything. Debbie Trent and her supervisor, a man who'd introduced himself as Steve Jenkins after Ranma's disappearance stood at his side and tried to get a glimpse on either Scarlet Widow or Doctor Octopus, hopefully both.

"What do you think this woman is, Mr. Jameson?" Mr. Jenkins, who was clad in an elegant black suit complete with red tie and black shoes asked.

Jonah was startled out of his musings by the question, and his face acquired a serious look. His left hand reached into his pocket and produced a cigar he promptly lit, and the publisher of the Bugle took a deep puff he slowly exhaled. Debbie began to cough but refrained from commenting that they'd a smoking ban in their offices; it would've been pointless anyway what with her supervisor being a big fan of Mr. Jameson. Thus it came as no surprise that he was watching his idol avidly.

"A potential threat." the publisher of the Bugle finally said. "That masked vigilante reminds me way too much of Spider-Man."

"Do you really think that she's a threat, Mr. Jameson?" Debbie Trent asked with a frown. "I mean, she saved you, didn't she?"

"Saved me? Hah! I heroically survived that encounter with Ock, and I'd have escaped on my own!" Jonah exclaimed, assuming a fighting stance as he took another deep puff, producing more cigar smoke that made Miss Trent cough anew. "This Scarlet Widow's nothing more than another masked vigilante, and I don't trust people whose face I can't see. They hide their identities behind their masks. What else do they hide? And who holds those masked so-called heroes accountable for the damages they cause? And anyway, who died and appointed them to be Sheriffs that stand above the laws?" he demanded with his right hand balled into a fist.

"Right." Mr. Jenkins agreed. "If they're heroes, why do they hide behind their masks? Are they even human? Maybe they're mutants, so horribly disfigured that they need to wear masks. I agree, Mr. Jameson, as long as they hide who and what they are one can't trust them."

"Maybe they've got family to protect." Miss Trent spoke up. "Wouldn't you wear a mask if you'd enemies that wouldn't hesitate to kill your precious people? Your family, your wife, your kids?"

Mr. Jenkins frowned thoughtfully, but Jonah was not to be deterred. "Nonsense." he said, blowing his cigar smoke into her face which caused more coughs. "The so called super heroes are nothing but masked vigilantes marauding through this fine city. They cause nothing but trouble and destruction, especially that insufferable Spider-Man." he spat in disgust. "That reminds me…" he muttered, reaching into his left trouser pocket from where he produced a cellphone.

"Is this the new Nokia?" Mr. Jenkins asked, surveying the cell phone with obvious interest.

"Yes." Jonah nodded between new puffs. "If I wouldn't need the ruddy thing I'd have thrown it out of the highest window the Bugle has to offer the day I got it. My wife is driving me nuts ever since I'm a 'proud owner' of the 'newest technological advancement'. Bah!"

"I know exactly what you mean. My wife's been the same ever since I'd to buy one of those. I mean, they're neat and damn useful, but to be within reach 24/7…" Mr. Jenkins trailed off with a dark look. "There's no doubt cell phones are helpful, but I wish my wife wouldn't call for the tiniest bits."

"Men." Miss Trent muttered quietly and unheard, shaking her head as she sat down in her office chair to resume her work, her scarf wrapped a bit tighter around her neck due to the cold that streamed into the room through the destroyed window.

Jonah on his part nodded distractedly as he dialled a number. "Robbie!" he bellowed into his phone as soon as his Editor-in-Chief at the Bugle had answered the call, "Find Parker and tell him to get his ass over to… Where are we?" he asked, turning to Mr. Jenkins.

"In the Socony-Mobil Building that hosts my employer, the law firm Wright & Sons, among others. We are at the Second Avenue and 41st street." Mr. Jenkins supplied.

Jonah gruffed in reply and told Robbie what he'd just come to know. "So tell Parker to get his ass over here pronto! Use that damn cellphone number of his! Bloody thing was expensive enough. What? What do you mean Parker had to bear half of the costs? I still had to pay one hundred and fifty bucks! So use that damn expensive thing!"

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson confirmed and Jonah switched his focus to Mr. Jenkins. "Someone show me the way to the next best elevator. I have to watch what that masked menace does!"

Mr. Jenkins nodded; he wasn't even put off by the commanding tone Jonah had used and led the publisher of the Bugle to the door. "I'll do it myself, sir. Please follow me."

-.-

Peter Parker, freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle, was having the dubious joy of fulfilling a particularly stressful and taxing marital duty: he was accompanying his wife, Mary Jane Watson-Parker on a shopping spree through one of the local malls, and he was already looking like a human coat rack with the multitude of shopping bags and assorted other stuff he was carrying, like their winter jackets, for example. Peter wore a gruff expression and couldn't really invest the energy necessary to look at least neutral. Shopping was pure, undiluted hell in his opinion, and should be limited to once a year, if at all. Or better yet, be banned completely.

He trudged listlessly through the endless seeming corridors of the mall as he followed his wife who'd this glowing expression females seemed to gain when they were on a shopping spree, and he didn't even spare the wares the various stores had on display a second glance. Peter was bored out of his mind, and not even the new outfit his wife had chosen to wear, namely very sexy skintight blue jeans and a white sweater that emphasised her figure in just the right ways served to get him out of his funk.

After four hours of nonstop shopping and trying on clothes in an endless string of stores on his day off (his day off, for pity's sake!) he was praying for something, anything to deliver him from this madness. Regardless of what. Even a case of theft was welcome at this point; heck, even a bag-snatcher would make his day right now.

"Are you okay, Tiger? You look stressed." his beautiful wife remarked as she came to a stop to survey him.

'**She's as perceptive as ever.'** Peter thought as he came to a stop as well; he put the bags down and stuck his hands into the trouser pockets of his blue jeans, trying to relax his face to look friendlier. "It's nothing, MJ. I'm just getting a wee bit hungry."

Mary Jane had a pretty good idea of the real reason for her husband's bad mood, but she just nodded and smiled at him. "Don't worry, Tiger. I'll sate your hunger pretty soon." she said with a wink and a lascivious flutter of her eyelashes as she rubbed her body against his.

Peter's blood immediately rushed from his brain to his loins, and his face sported a very goofy grin. Thoughts of how bad and evil shopping was had been completely driven from his mind. "Is that a promise?" he asked with an even goofier grin.

"Of course, Tiger." Mary Jane assured with her body pressed against that of her husband. "And the promise will be fulfilled as soon as we're done with shopping."

Peter's good mood lessened a bit, but he'd surely survive another few shops, especially considering these prospects. "Then, by all means, let's get it over with."

Mary Jane smiled, her blue eyes glinting. "Someone sure is eager here." she said as she softly got out of the hold Peter had had on her.

"How could I not be with a gorgeous wife such as mine? I…" Peter interrupted himself when he heard the ringing of his cellphone from his backpack, and he placed his backpack onto the ground with a curse, unzipped it and produced the ringing phone. Shrugging apologetically he answered the call.

"Hey, Robbie. What? Jonah wants me where? When? Ten minutes ago? Doesn't he know it's my day off? Oh right, he doesn't give a damn. So he hopes Spider-Man will appear at the Socony-Mobil Building because I'll take photos of Doc Ock, that unknown 'costumed menace' and possibly Spider-Man. But Robbie, it's my day off, my first in over half a year. MJ and I are… What? Three hundred bucks?" Peter asked, his eyes going wide.

Mary Jane had fixed Peter's gaze the whole time, and her face had noticeably and progressively darkened throughout the conversation. She sighed, grabbed the shopping bags and walked over to an unoccupied wooden bench that stood two metres to her left and sat down, placing the bags at her feet; yet another shot at togetherness ruined. **'We should really go on a vacation that takes us away from New York. There's always something happening that gets in the way. But it's not Peter's fault, MJ. He really tried, and it's the thought that counts in this case. Yes, why should this ruin our mutual reward?' **

Peter's gaze silently asked for her permission, and Mary Jane nodded. "Go, Tiger. I'll take a cab from here to our loft, I'll manage. But please be careful."

Peter grinned at her, and his thankfulness was visible in his brown eyes as he walked over to her and sat down beside his wife, taking her left hand in his right. "I love you." he whispered and drew her near to him into a passion filled kiss as he covered the speaker of his cell with his left hand.

A good thirty seconds later Peter withdrew from his wife and held the cellphone back to his ear. "I'll do it, Robbie. Yeah, I 'convinced' MJ." he said, earning himself a playful poke in the ribs, "And I expect extra payment for working on my day off. Discuss it with Jonah, I gotta get a move on."

He hugged his wife close yet again as soon as he'd terminated the call. "MJ, you're the most wonderful, gorgeous and all around perfect wife a guy could wish for, and I thank my lucky star for every day, every second I'm allowed to spend with you. I love you endlessly." he said with emotion in his voice and drew his wife in for another kiss that she met passionately.

A minute later a lovingly smiling Mary Jane drew back and stroked her husband's right cheek with the fingers of her right hand. "I love you too, Tiger. And I know just the way for you to make up for the lost time." she winked suggestively.

Peter grinned. "You'll have to indulge me on how to do that as soon as I've returned home." he replied innocently and gave his wife a quick peck on the lips and got to his feet. "Gotta hurry now or our money will go up in smoke." he added, smoothing out his black sweater.

Mary Jane laughed. "Then go get your pictures, Tiger. I'll be waiting." she promised with another lascivious flutter of her eyelashes as she got to her feet as well, smoothing out her clothes in a very insinuating fashion.

Peter's grin went goofily once again. "I'll hurry. Oh, I'll leave my backpack with you. Would look kinda stupid, y'know." he said with a meaningful grin as he handed his wife said backpack who took and shouldered it. "Till very soon, love."

He was just about to hurry away when Mary Jane called him back. "Haven't you forgotten something, Tiger?" she asked with a mocking grin, holding his camera in the palm of her right hand while kneeling in front of the open backpack she'd placed on the ground beside the shopping bags.

The pose his wife was in left Peter with a very good view on her cleavage, and it was plain obvious that he was looking anywhere but at the camera in her hand. Mary Jane noticed this of course and shook her head in mirth, making her hair move counter to the motion, which served to entice Peter even more. "Men." she snickered, fully aware of the impact she had on her husband.

That remark shook Peter out of his hormonally induced fantasies, and the freelancing photographer shrugged. "One would have to be gay or dead to not be turned on by you, Mrs. Mary Jane Watson-Parker."

Mary Jane got to her feet slowly, deliberately and most of all sexily, and handed her husband, whose gaze didn't leave her cleavage the camera as soon as she'd gotten to her feet. "Flattery will get you anywhere, Mr. Peter Parker. I'll be waiting for you, and now go get your pics so you'll be with me sooner." she grinned, taking the catcalls from several male shoppers in stride.

Peter took the camera almost eagerly from his wife, his face sporting a big grin. "Can't wait. I'll just take a few pics of whom-or whatever it is that Triple J wants and be back real soon." he promised and hurried away at a fast clip, waving one last time at his wife.

Little did Peter Parker know that the easy seeming task would take longer than thought.

-.-

**Present time**

Ranma, who'd reformed her 'monster visage' into her usual black face mask was currently running down the surface of the Socony-Mobil Building at full blurring speeds, and it didn't take long until she'd caught up with Doctor Octopus a good ten metres above ground. She was prepared to kick him into the street down below, preferably face-first, but Doctor Octopus seemed to sense something at the very last second and brought his free tentacle around as he craned his neck in the same movement. The result was the same for Doctor Octopus anyway, seeing that Ranma had modified her plans on the spot. Instead of kicking his behind Ranma blurred forward and decked the already damaged jaw of Otto Octavius full force. The two tentacles that held onto the metal surface of the building forcibly lost their grip on the measly surface, and chunks of metal tumbled downwards as a result. Another, more important result was that Doctor Octopus, who was once again screaming in pain due to being hurt in the same spot yet again, was shot downwards towards the awaiting street.

Those passersby that frequented the pavement beneath the Mobil Building ran away screaming as soon as they'd caught wind of the fight between these two superpowered beings; the New Yorker's knew what Doctor Octopus was capable of, they'd all witnessed many fights between him and Spider-Man, and they possessed enough common sense to vacate the vicinity immediately. They'd experience with fights of this kind, and a safety zone that extended a good one hundred metres in both directions of the 41st Street was immediately erected.

But Doctor Octopus didn't crash into the pavement as many had expected; rather, the betentacled man just managed to ram all three of his tentacles into the metal surface of the skyscraper two metres above ground in a last ditch effort. It was an action that saved him from grave injuries but made him smack face first into the hard metal, which aggravated his injuries further and caused Doctor Octopus to scream in pain. The evil scientist fell to the ground with a thud and a groan, and that in conjunction with the force Ranma had put behind her punch had really knocked the wind out of him; his jaw looked worse for the wear, for the lower jaw had shifted a good two centimetres to the left. His face was swollen all over, and the impact had at least cracked several ribs.

Fury ignited in his eyes despite the mind-numbing pain he was in, and his remaining three tentacles pushed him into an upright position, his black trench coat billowing behind him in the wind. Doctor Octopus dusted himself off and carefully touched his jaw, only to flinch due to the intense pain this brought. A look of even greater fury appeared on his face and he craned his neck upwards to watch out for his enemy, but looking in that direction revealed nothing; confusion replaced his fury instantly, and he started to frantically search for Scarlet Widow. But it was to no avail, she was nowhere in sight. It was something that gave him pause and caused his analytic mind to kick back into gear. The scientist-turned-villain contemplated his options and came to the conclusion that trying to get revenge on the wench for what she'd done to him was not the most logical course of action considering his condition, and the apparent disappearance of Scarlet Widow enabled him to implement a tactical retreat. It was not to safe face, oh no, it was to lick his wounds and come back for revenge, better than ever. Doctor Octopus had just decided upon this course of action when Spider-Man appeared on the scene, unbeknownst to the insane genius.

-.-

Spider-Man was sure that he'd broken several speed-records on his wild swing to the Mobil building. It had taken him just three minutes to swing from the Mall to his destination, and Robbie's informant had been right. Doc Ock was here. The wallcrawler positioned his camera in a promising angle, employed the usual programming and observed the going-ons. Otto Octavius was clearly searching for someone or something, gauging from the way his head moved from side to side in a nearly frantic manner, and Spider-Man found it prudent to find out who or what that was. Innocents weren't in danger right now, thus immediate action on his part was unnecessary.

Peter watched the villain and the supposed crime scene avidly, and had just decided to spring into action when it seemed that Doctor Octopus made preparations to employ a tactical retreat. But the air shimmering behind Doctor Octopus stopped him cold in his tracks, and his eyes widened behind his mask as the shimmer condensed into a female figure. A very shapely female figure. Despite being hidden in the shadows ten metres up at a wall across the Mobil Building Peter saw every detail thanks to his better than human eyesight. If the woman was as gorgeous underneath the skintight costume as her figure suggested she'd have quite the string of admirers after her in a_very_ short time. The woman's figure was just perfect, a faultless hourglass figure that emphasised her womanly attributes in just the right way to make you want to beat her over the head with a club and drag her to your cave to have your wicked way with her. In short, if the face hidden under the black face mask fit to the body she was every man's wet dream. Spider-Man was so enticed that he nearly missed that the woman began to speak.

"Lost someone or something, squid?" the woman asked in a taunting tone, pretending to watch out for an unseen someone.

Ock whirled around with a growl, and Spider-Man barely suppressed a gasp when he caught sight of Doctor Octopus' face. His jaw was clearly broken in several places, and the face was swollen for the most part and had coloured black and blue. Whoever that woman was, she didn't just seem to be a major looker but also a major player.

"Yuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Doctor Octopus exclaimed furiously.

"Yes, little ole me. Missed me, Doc?" she asked in a fake sensual voice. "Oh, I see you did." she said with a wicked grin as his tentacles whipped about in helpless agitation. "This is good, for I'm not finished with you yet. You still have three arms left. Way too many for my taste." Ranma added and made no move to hide her 'monster visage' any longer, something she deemed safe what with the bystanders a good half kilometre away to both sides.

One unseen bystander had seen it, and this time Peter did gasp, but he did possess enough presence of mind to crawl around the corner of the building he was currently adhered to like liquid lightning. **'Forget about major looker… The eyes… The maw… She reminds me so damn much of Venom! Who _is_ she?'** he thought and continued to observe from the hidden; if she could beat up Doctor Octopus like that and had already ripped out one of his tentacles it was prudent to watch and learn; especially if she'd any affiliation to Venom, who was a good deal stronger than he himself.

He'd seen that the woman had looked in his direction, she'd obviously heard him. That meant that he was indeed limited to observing until he learned more about the strengths, but preferably the weaknesses of the woman. Doctor Octopus had apparently thought to use the woman's distraction to his advantage, as Peter observed. But Peter saw from the woman's posture that something had warned her of the incoming threat.

'**It is… As if she's got a Spider sense or something.'** Peter thought as he watched Ranma dodge out of harms way.

The tentacles, which only amounted to three due to the woman's efforts had apparently been upgraded. One sported a vicious looking circular saw, another a very sharp looking fifty centimetre long blade and only the third was equipped with the standard grip hook. But the tentacle's attacks missed by miles and that fact gave Peter a clue to the woman's speed.

'**Holy shit, she might be even faster than me!' **

Peter watched on in astonishment as the woman continued to evade the tentacle's thrusts with artistic manoeuvres that spoke of high skill, and Doctor Octopus attacks did nothing more than to damage the street and parked cars. One particular evasive manoeuvre of the costumed woman, a backwards somersault, carried her a good five metres upwards to the metal surface of the Mobil Building to which her feet stuck as if they were glued to the surface. Doctor Octopus, whose attack had sliced a street lamp in half raged impotently at his inability to hit the elusive woman, and the severed street lamp crashed down on a parked BMW with a loud thud, destroying the vehicle beyond repair.

Spider-Man was tempted to rub his eyes yet again. **'I'll be damned! Now she adheres to the building's surface! Just like me! Does she have Spider powers or something? The facts seem to support this theory. But who's she?' **

The webslinger watched spellbound as the woman prepared to spring back into action from her spot five metres up the wall of the Mobil Building. His eyes widened further as the woman simply seemed to blur from existence, and he'd have rubbed the same-self eyes had it not been for the mask he was wearing. He shook his head to clear it and just opened his eyes which he'd shut tightly for a moment in time to see the woman reappear right in front of Doctor Octopus in the middle of the street; Peter very nearly missed the punch to the point of Doctor Octopus' chin that resounded through the 41st street.

Peter's eyes shot open in surprise as he noticed just how strong that punch must've been, for Doctor Octopus, who was yelling in pain yet another time this day was literally blown backwards a good thirty metres into the general direction of the Grand Central Station and nearly all the way to Park Avenue. Octavius would even have flown farther had it not been for a parked FedEx transporter that stood in the middle of the street and had apparently been abandoned by its driver; Doctor Octopus, whose long black trench coat billowed around him on his involuntary flight smacked into the vehicle full force and was driven a few centimetres into the radiator cowling, and a new scream of pain escaped the man.

His attacker blurred from view again and reappeared and disappeared every five metres until she'd finally reached her prey. Peter shook himself out of his frozen stupor and pocketed the camera; he crawled then up to the rooftop and crossed over to the building adjacent from the Mobil Building. It seemed that his services weren't needed today, and he'd only intervene if the woman decided to do something drastic. Now that he'd decided on a course of action Spidey crawled up the cladding of the building he was currently adhering to as fast as he could and roof hopped over to the building that gave him the best possible view; he positioned the camera anew and continued to observe.

-.-

Ranma was sufficiently pleased with her handiwork; Doctor Octopus was her first real test, and the test was going over well, if she might say so herself. Doc Ock had already seen her 'monster visage', thus hiding her abilities and nature wasn't really necessary any more. The blonde let her tendrils come out and nearly sighed in satisfaction as she continued to slowly and deliberately walk over to Doctor Octopus position. It was a good feeling to stretch herself out, so to speak.

Above her position Spider-Man was once more hard pressed not to give himself away, and the wallcrawler had to bite his lip to prevent a shout of surprise when he'd caught sight of the tendrils.**'Definitely more advanced than Venom. _If_ she _is_ the host of a symbiote.'** Peter Parker thought.

The blonde in question hastened her step in reaction to the fact that Doctor Octopus had managed to dig himself out of the FedEx truck she'd embedded him in, and she liked the look of impotent fury on his face. She nearly laughed as he brought his tentacles into position around him in what could only be described as a defensive position. The circular saw on his left tentacle came to life, and the blade on his right one glinted in the sun as he moved the tentacles around in agitation.

Ranma had nearly reached his position, and a wicked grin contorted her 'monster visage'. "So you wanna play with your toys, huh? Two can play that game." she said and formed both of her arms into wicked looking sixty centimetre long blades with razor sharp edges.

Doctor Octopus' eyes visibly widened when he saw this feat, and he was not the only one who was surprised and extremely apprehensive. **'Oh God! She can form _weapons_! Damn, that's a wholly different level to Venom… If that really is a symbiote she's wearing we're so screwed!'** a certain worried webslinger thought.

Octavius on his part fought the fear that'd crawled up on him the only way he knew, by suppressing it with cold logic. Cold logic he laced with anger. "Nice toy swords you got there, Scarlet Widow. Now to see if they can stand up to _real_ weapons." he replied with confidence he didn't really feel before he attacked.

Ranma laughed a mocking laugh and deflected the incoming tentacles; the two armed and more dangerous ones were deflected by her arms-turned-blades, and the third was rendered useless by her tendrils. The blonde matched his attacks blow for blow, and her body language conveyed that she was bored.

–**_Want to have some fun, Ranma? –_**Sym remarked.

'**Sure, Sym. Go right ahead, this is really boring me. I'd have thought Doc Ock would be more of a challenge.' **

–**_You are doing it again, Ranma. You are not taking him seriously. –_** Sym chided. **_– Even though you are superior at the moment that does not mean that he is no danger. You must really stop thinking that you are superior to everyone. This is not Nerima where you were able to show up everybody. There is a particularly fitting saying I remember from Peter Parker's memories: put what I said in your pipe and smoke it. –_**

'**Okay, Sym.'** Ranma sighed in her mind as she parried more blows on autopilot, **'You're right. I vow to keep that in mind. Now to the fun you mentioned…'** she added, hoping to derail her symbiote from chiding her any more, something that always grated on her nerves.

Sym chuckled, which indicated that the diversion tactic had worked. **_– I had not told you yet that your hair is more than just inorganic coverage of your head and an inexplicable source of attraction for human males. You can also use your hair as a weapon, much as the tendrils. In fact, in this state they _are_ tendrils which you can command just as easily as the other tendrils. Give it a try. –_**

Ranma nodded inside of her mind as her left and right arm-turned-blades deflected a steady number of attacks with apparent ease while her tendrils still immobilised the third tentacle. The blonde concentrated on her hair and felt how the tendrils responded to her will; she willed them to grow longer, and would she have had a mirror she'd have been reminded of the mythological monster Hydra. Her hair moved around her head as if it possessed a life on its own, and the symbiote-clad girl smirked at the look of surprise on Doctor Octopus face.

"Did you really think my arms and tendrils were my only weapons? I _am_ a weapon." she said in a scary voice and brought her hair-turned-tendrils forward.

Before Doctor Octopus could react the hair had grabbed him and had already thrown him into the house wall five metres behind in the blink of an eye; Ranma's other tendrils had automatically let go of Doctor Octopus and had retracted into her body where they formed the usual chaotic patterns around her body. Her hair swirled around her as she stalked towards her prey, who'd just staggered to his feet like a drunken sailor. Octavius shook his head to clear it, and he commanded his tentacles to shoot forward in a last ditch effort, his sword arm aimed at the heart of his tormentor.

Ranma simply laughed, reformed the blade of her right arm into a claw and caught the bladed tentacle with it while her bladed left arm took care of the circular saw by cutting it cleanly off. "Did you just say toy weapons?" the blonde taunted. "I wonder which 'weapons' are the toys here." she remarked as the ten centimetre long part of the tentacle containing the circular saw clattered to the ground.

Doctor Octopus stared at the severed appendage in utter disbelief, disbelief which changed into impotent fury. His arms began to visibly struggle stronger to escape the vice-grip Ranma had on them, but it was also obvious that it was to no avail.

"I'm growing tired of this." Ranma said in a voice that caused shivers to run up and down Doctor Octopus' spine. "And I'll end this." she then added, and her hair-turned-tendrils as well as her bladed left arm severed the grip hook as well as the bladed tentacle with swift cuts.

Ranma's body tendrils tied up the three tentacles, and the blonde held her hands-turned-blades to Octavius' throat. "Tryin' to fuck with me was the stupidest idea you ever got, Doc. Say goodbye."

"NO!" a voice exclaimed from above, and Spider-Man came swinging down in a wide arc, landing in front of Ranma and next to Otto Octavius. "I know he's one of the bad guys, but he wasn't always like this. He'd a lab accident that made him this way, and there's still hope for him, hope that will be shattered if you kill him. So don't do it." he said in a tone that conveyed the message 'I don't want to fight you, but I'll do it if I must'.

The blonde sighed, but didn't move her blades one millimetre. "And another one who believes in the good in people. You know," she said conversationally, "_I_ once did too. But I realised one thing: life's a war, and you don't make prisoners in war. I'll humour you, though, Spider-Man, for I respect you."

Peter's eyes shot open inside of his mask, and his body language conveyed his surprise. "You… You know me?"

Ranma nodded. "Yes. And because of the respect I hold for you I'll play along, strictly in theory of course. So lets suppose I play the goody-two-shoes hero and have Doc arrested," she poked Doctor Octopus with one of her tendrils, eliciting a pained groan due to his broken ribs grinding against each other, "and they throw him into prison for another seventy years, so what is going to keep him from escaping?"

"Ah, ah," Ranma said, holding her left-bladed hand up while keeping her right pressed against Octavius' throat, "don't you say the prison's safe. Remember that mass outbreak recently? Prison's a sick joke to people like him." she spat. "There'll always something happen that allows them to escape. Playing the goody-goody hero who's all good and nice and puts the bad, bad villains back into prison's all good and nice, but it doesn't eliminate the problem that they keep coming back, better and more dangerous than before. There's only one way to ensure the bad guys stay down and won't get another shot at innocents and your precious people: put them down." she said with conviction, noting with satisfaction that Doctor Octopus had gone deathly pale and was literally sweating blood.

"But it's not _right_." Peter argued. "We don't have the right to decide who lives and dies, we just can't arrogate to do that. We wouldn't be any better if we killed them."

"I commend your morals, I really do," Ranma replied, "but I don't share them. Not any more." she said and formed the blade on her left arm into tendrils that ensnared a helpless Doctor Octopus' throat. "Morals are for those who can afford them, and I can't. Not any more. I'm not a hero like you." she finished, and Peter noticed the deep hidden meaning behind this.

"Hey, I can see that you're not really one of the bad guys. Whatever happened to make you this way was obviously _really_ bad, but has it killed your faith in humanity? Isn't there something left that can believe in the good in people?" Spider-Man asked.

"If you really believe that, then answer me this:" Ranma countered his questions, as the tendrils began to ensnare Doctor Octopus tighter, something a worried Spider-Man noticed right away, "Is there any good in _him_?" she pointed at the helpless man. "He tried to kill you what? A dozen times? A hundred times? How long until he eventually gets a lucky shot in? How long until your precious ones will weep at your grave over a senseless death that could've been prevented? A death in _May_ spirited him away." she said, and Peter's eyes shot open in surprise yet again. "What will your so called 'good in people' help them then?"

Spider-Man sighed. "Lady, I've seen much in my life, have encountered Gods and Demons, and my experiences have strengthened my belief in the good in people. There isn't a soul that can't be redeemed, you just have to fight hard enough for it. I know it's hard sometimes, and I wanted to give up many a time, but my faith kept me going; my faith that there's something or someone that will make it right if only I try hard enough."

Ranma chuckled and completely ignored that Doctor Octopus had turned an unhealthy shade of blue as she looked at Spider-Man. "Something or someone, huh? Your higher being… He, It, whatever abandoned me just like everyone else. Left me to rot. I just have _one_ friend in the world, and she's done a lot for me where no God has ever done anything for me. Rather the opposite." she spat.

"You don't know that." Spider-Man argued. "God or who- or whatever this force might be may have helped you in ways you don't even realise."

"While this is an interesting conversation we're getting sidetracked here. This is no discussion on beliefs and we're no support or coffee group. I have a villain to dispose of, then I have to be off. My beauty sleep and all that, y'know." Ranma replied, waving Spider-Man's tries to convince her otherwise off.

Spider-Man sighed and shot forward in the same moment; he decked Ranma with a fast punch to the face that sent her flying backwards into a back-alley. "I'm sorry it had to come to this." he said and meant it; that punch had been strong enough to render almost anyone unconscious, and he'd look after the costumed young woman later. For now he'd other priorities.

Doctor Octopus on his part rubbed his sore throat and took several deep breaths. "That was too close for comfort." he muttered.

Spider-Man turned around to said other priority and acted. A quick and strong right hook to the already severely damaged face sent the portly man into another housewall three metres behind and stole Ock's consciousness instantly, which was not surprising after the spadework Ranma had rendered. Spidey then jumped over to the unconscious man, leaned him against the housewall and quickly trapped him in webbing, taking great care to bind the damaged but still dangerous tentacles tightly.

-.-

Ranma had been surprised by the force behind the punch and flew a good two-hundred metres backwards until she hit an old red brick wall. The blonde got to her feet unfazed and nodded appreciatively. "He sure packs a punch. That one would've knocked me out for days hadn't it been for Sym. Not bad. Now that could make for a good fight." she muttered to herself and grinned viciously.

–**_I agree, Ranma. We should not kill him, but teaching him a lesson is well within the pales. –_** Sym commented.

'**Good, Sym. I hadn't planned to kill him anyway.'** Ranma thought back, and readied herself to get back into the fight; Spider-Man was noticeably distracted with binding Doc Ock tighter and hadn't initiated a follow up, which meant an even field.

She was just about to break out into a run when something interrupted her; something that literally came out of the sky. Ranma felt how a hot fluid drenched her from above, and in looking up she, now he, saw that someone she could only perceive as a shadow had thrown a pail filled with what had obviously been hot water out of the third story window. Ranma had felt the change, a change he'd not felt in nearly eight months, and he'd also felt how Sym had instantly reformed his underwear to fit his gender. The restored man looked down at himself and would've whooped with joy had that not given him away. It was not prudent to alert Spider-Man or anyone else of the change Scarlet Widow had undergone, and the restored young man camouflaged himself with nary a thought.

–**_Very interesting, Ranma. It seems your memories about that 'water magnet part' of your curse were accurate. Most intriguing. –_** Sym remarked.

'**You get used to it, Sym. All that matters is that I'm back to being a guy, and that's great! You ain't got no idea how great it feels to be male again after all that time. You know, it isn't as if I hated being a girl, it was just that I knew I could've change back with just some hot fluid which they kept from me with mocking laughs on their faces. The curse forces me to be half and half and I got used to it in the end, but those assholes forced me to be a girl for nearly seven months! Seven months without my birthform, those fuckers! But I'll show them. Once I got the proofs I'm gonna sue them so bad they won't be able to tell up from down!'** Ranma vowed, his fury turning the former normal looking mask into the 'monster visage' while his tendrils swirled around him.

–**_And we _will_ get our revenge. But first things first. Get used to your male form again, and become aware of the changes I made to it. I recommend doing so on the rooftop of this building; there you will be able to observe the changes unobstructed. –_** Sym suggested.

'**Good idea, Sym. I'll do that.'** Ranma agreed.

Not ten seconds later he stood on top of the building with the red brick façade he'd impacted as a she about thirty seconds ago, cowered down and scanned the surroundings first thing; Ranma noticed that Spider-Man had finished prepping up Doc Ock like a Christmas present, and the webslinger started looking around. Obviously for him, or rather, his female half. He smirked inside his face mask; he was back in his birthform, and had a good fight at his hands. What more could he wish for? But first off he had to find out about the changes Sym had done to him; Spider-Man could wait, for he could see that the hero was carefully walking towards the alley where his female half had disappeared.

Ranma sneaked across the rooftop absolutely soundlessly, his target being the tall chimney made of, how else, red bricks. Once sufficiently hidden from any prying eyes he willed himself visible and looked himself up and down. Like his female form, he'd grown and filled out. Not as much as the female body, but it was noticeable. Sym had been right, he was about 1.85 metres tall, and being that tall felt fantastic! He hadn't been exactly short before and wouldn't have dreamed of complaining about his build, but this was something else entirely. His overall myotonus had improved noticeably, had become more defined, his shoulders were definitely broader than before, and if what he felt from his privates was correct he'd make a special lady very happy one day, should he choose so after the disasters he'd experienced in the past. But who knew, maybe he'd have much better luck with the New Yorker girls. But that was for another time. He had loads of other issues at hands to even consider a relationship; besides, he was a burned child, and he'd take it very slowly and carefully this time around.

Right now he'd a fight at hands, and he needed an appropriate outfit for his male superhuman identity; an identity he'd dwelled on for the longest time, ever since his reawakening in the sewers in his new female body. He hadn't minded spending so much time as a female, not really, but it was _good_ to be back in male form nonetheless. Ranma had pretty much decided on spending time as male and female to equal parts, and this decision was based on Sym's theory that the 'curse' could be satisfied this way. Ranma had agreed; he would continue to be a girl half of the time anyway, and he'd learned in the past that the curse would somehow manage to catch him anyway. Maybe by sticking to the plan he'd be able to avoid the most irritating part of the curse, namely being a God damned water magnet. But he'd gotten sidetracked here.

'**Sym, our encounter with Doc Ock gave me an idea. I have to distinguish, I think you called it, from my identity as Scarlet Widow, right?'** Ranma thought, his face scrunched up in concentration inside his mask.

–**_Indeed. What do you propose? –_**

'**Ock's arms gave me the idea. A spider has eight legs, and a spider's what we derive our powers from, right? What if you'd grow me four extra arms with the help of our combat suit? Could you do that?' **

–**_Ranma, this proves best of all that the repairs were a success. You have finally begun to use your brain. –_**

'**Hey!'** Ranma interjected with the mental equivalent of a pout.

–**_This idea is brilliant. – _**Sym mused, having ignored Ranma's outburst entirely. **_– Yes, I can form four additional arms with ease, and they will be fully functional as well. If I may suggest an outfit –_**

'**Go right ahead, Sym.' **

Sym send back an affirmative and begun altering the costume; Ranma felt how the combat suit shifted and squirmed as Sym conducted the changes, and he could hardly keep track as the symbiotic being formed a completely new outfit, free of any spider related symbols. Said new outfit resembled their original one Sym had formed in prison very much therein that it was a mixture of red and black colours and swirling tendrils, but the one big difference consisted of the two additional arms on each side of Ranma's torso. Said young man looked at them in surprise until he remembered that it had been him who'd suggested them in the first place, and carefully testing he tried them out; he found to his satisfaction that he could move them about just as easy as his real arms.

Ranma grinned to himself inside his facemask. **'Way cool, Sym! I bet no one's ever gonna believe that Scarlet Widow is my other form. Great work.' **

–**_Thank you, Ranma. Would you prefer I leave the 'monster visage' as you call it in place? –_**

The host of Sym paused in his observation of himself and thought about that. **'Don't really know, Sym. Suggestions?' **

–**_Yes. I propose we limit the usage of the 'monster visage' to those cases where we deal with real scum, dregs we really want to scare. It is not prudent to alienate too many heroes with our full form, not more than necessary, at least, considering that Spider-Man already saw the 'monster visage' of your female form. But now you should go and give Spider-Man a good dressing down for daring to punch your 'sister', do you not think? –_**

'**Sister, eh? Good idea, even if slightly overused. But this being a different country the suggestion has merit. Hey, I never knew I could use so many big words in one sentence!'** Ranma exclaimed and snorted amused. **'Those repairs must've worked real wonders!' **

–**_More so than you know, Ranma. It is but a side effect, but that you regained the ability to think much more clearly will also be beneficial in battles; due to my enhancing you it will not be noticeable until you will be confronted with more challenging opponents, but the difference is there. The main effects will become visible once you start your education. –_**

'**School… Brrrr!'** Ranma commented with a shudder that extended into the mental spectrum, and buried that thought deep in the recesses of his mind. **'Did ya really have to mention that… Place… Anyway, I realised something that might be a problem: my hair. Could you, dunno, shorten it somehow? I don't want that everyone can see it pooling down my back. People might make a connection with my other self.'** Ranma thought.

–**_That is a non-issue, Ranma. The face mask covers your hair up easily. –_** the symbiote replied.

'**Cool, Sym. Then let's do battle once more.'** Ranma thought with a wicked grin.

–**_By all means. –_** Sym replied eagerly.

Ranma shook his head at the symbiotes violent streak and began his preparations. The ex-Saotome scouted the street down below and saw that Spider-Man had nearly reached the wall he'd impacted as a she, and Ranma jumped from the twenty metres tall building with a grin. His mind switched into battle mode during the fall, and Ranma eagerly anticipated the fight to come as he landed on the pavement of the back-alley into which Spider-Man had punted his alter ego.

The audible thump he'd made had alerted the wallcrawler, and Spider-Man whirled around. And even though he couldn't see it due to the mask the other man wore, Ranma was sure the eyes behind said mask were as big as saucers at the moment.

"I believe I owe you a thorough trashing for decking my sister." Ranma said calmly but with steel in his voice and cracked his knuckles for effect.

Spider-Man, who'd been busy with surveying and analysing the newcomer raised his brows inside his mask. "Your sister?"

"Scarlet Widow ring any bells? She didn't like being punched, and 'cause she'd to go sharpen her talons she blunted 'cause of you she asked me to avenge her honour. I, as her big bro take that _very_ seriously." Ranma said in a no-nonsense tone and crossed his real arms across his chest while the symbiote-made right hand below punched into the palm of the left below. "Prepare for a thorough trashing, 'cause Chaos is loose!"

**to be continued**…

**Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. **

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board for their continued great help. **

**And last but not least, many thanks to my beta for this story, Ordieth. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

**A/N: left off in another cliffie. I seem to have a penchant to do so. Oh well, I figure the chapter's more than long enough to make up for it; it should have cleared up a few questions as well. Next comes the fight with Spidey.**

**Seeing that I've never been to New York I took some liberties regarding the Commerce Bank and so on; so sorry to the New Yorkers if it ain't accurate, but I had to make it fit somehow. **

**Then there's the name issue. I think I changed Ranma's male superhuman identity a dozen times before finally settling on Chaos. Funny thing is, the original name for Carnage _was_ Chaos. They just changed it. **

**A quick note: I originally switched to measuring things in centimetres and stuff due to the fact that the Japanese do, and I'll continue doing so 'cause it's still Ranma's POV. For those who want to go to the trouble and convert the lengths, I can recommend this online converter: w w w . onlineconversion . com**

**You can find fanart of how I envisioned 'Scarlet Widow' to look at my yahoo group in the photos section; sorry, I just have no time to create a homepage or the time needed to maintain it, which is why I chose a yahoo group. There's just the small hassle of becoming a member; hey, you can still unsubscribe any time. **

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter: **

**Innortal, Bobboky, ranma hibiki, Martrex, michael68, sadfru, mystery person, Anime-Freak317, Honebar, Metroidvania, K-Dog the Fire Beast, ColdCypher, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, Kerensky18, Ice-Tea-1983, Cloud1239999, Animehoarder, AzureSky123, borg rabbit, Dobe-Teme, Paver83, Xtor49, Underdark Ranger, Virgil, Howard Russell, R-Kives, MattCauthon1, Dragon Man 180, Dumbledork, Peter Kim, Rubel, TJG, Deus-Ex-Machina, Lifeleech, Silverscale, Shiner, Delta-Theta, Warwolf, Wonderbee31, KaiserPhoenix, DoWnEr, Jago Li Son Shiranui, ranko lina Inverse, Babs Yerunkle, SSJ4Gene, Jonakhensu, Feramore, Elijah Snow, Requiem, Firehedgehog, imaginaryfriend101, Fanboyimus Prime, sandcrawlr, Some Random Guy, Hiryo, enlu-tarsonis, ranger5, gatodepatasblancas, QuestionDeca, Lord Oberon, deathgeonous**


	6. A Venomous Encounter

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 6: A Venomous encounter  
**

Silence reigned supreme in the back alley near the 41st street, the centre stage for the confrontation between Spider-Man and the newly named Chaos. The tall row of houses and the grey, snow-laden clouds hanging overhead gave the whole scenery an oppressive feeling, and a cold wind blew through the narrow alley as the two super powered beings surveyed each other. It was not the cold gust of wind that chilled Spider-Man to the bone, it was the fact that his Spider sense had failed to alert him to the appearance of this newcomer.

The wallcrawler hid his surprise and apprehension and concentrated on what might just be his next opponent. Chaos, as he had called himself, was taller than he himself, and had a more muscular built, especially in the shoulders. Very noticeable were the six arms that made him stand out, and Peter asked himself yet another time if it could be a coincidence that another apparently Spider powered being had come out of the woodwork. The claim of this 'Chaos' that 'Scarlet Widow' was his sister might just be true, Spider-Man mused as he finished his survey of the six-armed man.

Spider-Man shook off his apprehension and decided to employ the diplomatic approach before jumping head first into a fight. "So Scarlet Widow is your sister… Well, one can surely see the family resemblance. Anyway," he continued smoothly so as not to be interpreted as insulting as of yet, "your sister and me had a simple disagreement about how to handle Doc Ock. I've never been fond of killing, which is why I had to stop her."

"With your fist?" Ranma inquired, and one could literally hear the raised brow. "If that ain't the way." he added sarcastically.

Spider-Man held his hands up. "Hey, I'm not fond of Doc Ock, but even he deserves to live."

Ranma snorted and shook his head. "Have ya ever asked yourself how many people got killed by that kinda attitude?" he asked derisively. "Ya catch some bad guys and they're thrown inta the bunk. All cool and dandy. And how long does it take until they escape?" he held his hands up to forestall any comment from Spider-Man. "Ah, ah, am on a nice tirade here, so no interrupting. When was the last fuckin' prison outbreak? What, one, two weeks ago?

"Have ya ever considered how many people could have lived if ya'd just had the balls and put guys like Ock down? People like him have no fuckin' respect for life, and ya expect 'em ta change. Ya must've realised that the prison system ain't safe and actually can't hold anyone in. Hah, they'd have trouble ta contain Pinky and Brain!" he scoffed, and his talons morphed into wicked looking mini-spears on all six of his hands.

The webslinger was sufficiently impressed by this display and took it as further proof for the kinship of Scarlet Widow and Chaos, but he was a pro and acted as such. "Hey, the prison's constantly being upgraded to prevent such jailbreaks in the future. Those guys have experience in containing super villains, and they learn as they go from those jailbreaks. We're all just human, mistakes happen, but there's us who put 'em baddies back into the bunk."

Chaos laughed a short, barking and most of all mocking laugh. "If they'd experience in containing baddies like Ock there wouldn't be jailbreaks in the first place. Upgrades… Feh. Even the best o' upgrades ain't no guarantee that fuckers like Ock ain't gonna kill no innocents in the future. It ain't so much 'bout what ya do, Spider-Man, it is 'bout the consequences your failing to act brings 'bout. 'Em bad guys are bein' put inta a prison that has been designed by humans, and humans make mistakes, as ya said yerself. Put 'em back all ya want, but doncha ever forget 'bout the victims of your decisions."

Spider-Man sighed. "Even if what you say were true, Chaos, we can not go around and be judge, jury and executioner to people like Ock. There're laws that govern us and our behaviour, and even super villains like Ock have rights. It would not be right to put them down like wild animals, 'cause they're humans with rights that come along with them being human beings.

"Believe me, I wanted to jettison those laws many a time, wanted to break villains in two for what they did, but that would make me no better than them. There's a fine line between them and us, Chaos, and I've made a vow that I'll never step over it." Spider-Man concluded with conviction.

Ranma scoffed, and his lowermost pair of arms folded itself across his abdomen. "What do ya think the relatives of people that got killed 'cause people like ya put villains like Ock back inta the bunk instead of putting 'em down would say ta that? Fuckin' high moral ground can go screw itself, that's what they'd say! It's simple. If a hero gets a guy like, say, Ock thrown back inta jail instead of stopping him permanently," Ranma's real right claw lashed out at a trash can about twenty centimetres to his immediate right faster than Spider-Man was able to follow, fact that worried the hero greatly, especially considering that the trash can was cleaved cleanly in half, spilling its foul smelling contents on the ground, "they're indirectly responsible for the deeds that asshole commits." he said with conviction.

Spider-Man was shocked by the seriousness that reverberated in Chaos' voice, and his body language conveyed this plainly. "You can't really mean that! I mean, come on, guys like me put villains like Ock back into the bunk, but that does not make us responsible for their deeds! It's the states' and by proxy the prisons' responsibility to keep those guys in, our responsibility ends as soon as we deliver them to the police station."

Ranma chuckled as he opened and closed his real left claw. "If you really believe that you're not stating a very convincing case. Y'know, the bad guys will always be the bad guys, don't matter what they do ta redeem themselves, but the good guys don't always stay good. Catch my drift? Doesn't matter anyway right now. Ya'll have time to think 'bout what I said after I've taught ya a lesson for layin' hand on my sis. Doncha worry, I ain't havin' a grudge against ya or nuthin', see the upcoming beating as a sparring match."

The webslinger raised a brow inside his face mask. "You're very confident, Chaos. So convinced you can beat me in this 'sparring match'?" he asked, not showing the relief he felt in face of the confirmation that this was not evolving into a fight to the death. "Neat costume, by the way. Did your boyfriend help in coming up with it?"

Ranma chuckled in amusement. Had he not been trained in the Anything Goes, which included insult techniques of the worst kind he might have been offended by Spider-Man's statement. "Ya've ta try better than that ta rile me up, Spider-Man. Much better. Only those ruled by their emotions are subject to such tactics. I ain't got no emotions left aside from a select few, and they don't rule me, they're my strength. Enough talk now."

-.-

Eddie Brock, former reporter for the Daily Globe and host of the alien symbiote that made him Venom was in a decidedly foul mood. His search for Parker, the bane of his existence had turned up nothing. The hatred and anger he felt for Spider-Man soared higher than ever as he stepped through the rooms of Parker's loft. It had been embarrassingly easy for someone of his abilities to gain entrance to the building. He just had to force the front window open and that had been that. Child's play.

He'd expected Parker to have taken some security precautions, but the apparent conviction among heroes that their homes were absolutely secure, no, sacred and downright untouchable, ran obviously in Parker as well. That conviction might even have been justified had Spider-Man's secret identity been, well, secret.

Parker would pay for living in this false sense of security and he'd be the one to make him pay. It was his right, he'd first dibs. Eddies face broke into a vicious scowl and his anger rose a few notches as he stepped out of the living room. No one was at home, and he'd yet again been denied his revenge. For now.

The host of Venom bared his teeth in an angry snarl and his tendons became visible as he reminisced how Parker aka Spider-Man had destroyed his life. He'd been a well respected reporter at the Globe, his life had been good and he'd had the respect of his father, Eddie Brock Sr.. He'd just made the small mistake to believe the word of his interview partner without thoroughly checking his story. But why should he? The man had known all the details and he'd taken his word at face-value.

How could he have known that the man was not the Sin Eater, that he'd been lying through his teeth to get publicity? How could he have known that the man had been a bogus offender? He had even gone so far as to protect the man's identity under the First Amendment in case he had not been the killer! It had been the authorities that had forced him to reveal the identity of the murderer through applying ever increasing pressure. He had given in grudgingly, but the results had been to his liking nonetheless back then: the edition had sold out like hot cakes.

Then Spider-Man had interfered and ruined his life. He had revealed the Sin Eater to be a Detective by the name of Stan Carter, and that revelation—despite his prior safety precautions—had made him a laughingstock among his fellow journalists. He had been fired from the Daily Globe, had been forced to write venomous drivel and slander for scandal newspapers. All because of Spider-Man.

It had been an honest mistake to believe the man, and this small mistake had cost him everything. His job, his life, his reputation, his hopes and dreams. All destroyed by Peter Parker, Spider-Man. He just had to arrest the real culprit, and that single act had ruined his life. But now it was his turn, and this time he'd neither be fooled nor stopped. Not until Spider-Man had drawn his last breath, not until he'd paid the ultimate price for his deeds.

The symbiote that made Eddie Brock Venom basked in the hatred and malice which dominated its host. Eddie generated such delicious feelings it could feed off, and their ambitions corresponded so excellently. The demise of its former host Peter Parker was a must after his disregard and outright rejection he'd shown it, and they'd crush Parker's skull for what he'd done to them. Venom covered its host's head as they walked through the living room. They were tempted to smash the interior of the comfy looking loft to smithereens but figured it'd be pointless and childish.

They were out to kill Parker, ruining his residence was illogical. Killing or abducting Parker's wife Mary Jane was pointless as well in their mind. She might consort with the enemy, share his bed even, but it went against their sense of justice to kill someone just because she'd made the mistake of falling for a fraud like Parker. As long as Parker's wife was alive there was still the chance that she might open her eyes to the truth, the truth that Parker was no hero but a loser. A loser who was just good at destroying things, things like other people's lives, which was the exact reason why he deserved to die. And die he would, sooner or later, and rather sooner if it were for them.

Venom held back a maniacal laugh that would have sounded way too stereotypical for his taste. He slipped out of the window and crawled up the housewall until they reached the rooftop. Eddie planned to stop at the Bugle for a visit, as it was most likely that some of the people working there knew Parker's whereabouts. Once he'd found the little Spider he'd crush him and slurp his brain out of his broken skull, and he'd do it today. Venom grinned hideously showing two rows of sharp, pointy teeth and shot his web. Seconds later he was off, swinging through the streets of New York on his search for Spider-Man.

-.-

A few kilometres to the West the battle between Spider-Man and Chaos was in full swing. The wallcrawler had narrowly avoided the initial attack which would have probably punted him all the way—a good thirty metres in his estimation—out of the alley where he'd first encountered Chaos. The power and speed behind Chaos' blow had been surprising, and the force behind it was readily apparent in the large hole he'd created in the dusty-grey façade of some housewall.

The blow wouldn't have killed him or left him badly injured for that matter, but it had been strong enough to convey the message that this was a serious fight despite being labelled a 'sparring match' in the forefront of their fight. Chaos took his duty to pay him back for punching his sister obviously very seriously, just like any other over-protective big bro he'd come to know in his life.

But that Chaos was trying to inflict pain was not what was irritating him. It had nearly driven him up the wall that his Spider sense hadn't worked against Scarlet Widow, but the same applied to Chaos as well! This really irritating phenomenon led the webslinger to the startling conclusion that his opponent might be 'wearing' a symbiote as well.

Peter operated on instinct alone as he jumped, dodged and weaved around blows—which admittedly seemed as if Chaos was testing him—, but these blows were already fast enough that he knew that just his reflexes that were nearly fifty times faster than that of a normal human were keeping him from being hit. He had no time to reflect on the topic why symbiotes kept popping up left and right, his full concentration was required to stay ahead of those blows Chaos dealt out.

Spider-Man was constantly on the defence and just managed to evade Chaos due to the fact that his opponent seemed largely... uncoordinated. True, he was very good, not many managed to limit him to defence only, but Chaos hadn't been able to land a blow either.

It was surprising considering the speed and strength Chaos had demonstrated, but it was as if his six arms were in a constant quarrel over which was to have the 'privilege' to hit him first, with the result that none did due to the fact that they kept getting in each other's way. It was a comical sight indeed, and Spidey had fun in taunting him over his 'problem'. Now if only he could use his opponent's inability to his advantage.

-.-

To say that Ranma was dissatisfied with his efforts would have been a huge understatement, like saying that the vacuum of space was a tad bit cold. The combat suit clad young man frowned inside his face mask as his blows continued to miss Spider-Man due to his unwontedly clumsiness. He cussed like a sailor inside his mind and cursed his extra limbs, which were—much—more of a hindrance than an asset.

Ranma really got fed up when Spider-Man managed to grace his cheek with a right-handed punch. And it was just due to the fact that he'd rolled his head with the punch as he'd been taught to since early on that it wasn't a full hit. Snarling at his ineffectiveness and clumsiness Ranma performed a backwards somersault that brought him a good ten metres away from his opponent. His face twisted into a mask of concentration as he willed the four extra arms to slowly retract into his costume, which made it look as if they were slowly being reabsorbed into his body—which they were in fact with the slight difference that it was the combat suit that reabsorbed them and not Ranma himself.

Spider-Man ceased his forward motion due to this unexpected sight and consequently lost the opportunity to press his advantage, but the wallcrawler was just too amazed by what he was witnessing. His mouth hung open inside his face mask from surprise, and both brows had climbed into the hairline. "What the hell? You reabsorbed your arms? How?"

Ranma—who had been watching Spider-Man like a hawk and would have been ready to counter anything thrown his way even during the reabsorption—fixed Spider-Man with a look of the twin white pools that covered his eyes and stared at the webslinger. The martial artist crossed his single pair of arms across his chest and smirked. This had the interesting side-effect that he formed a smirking maw filled with pointy, ink black teeth, and one look at Spider-Man told him that it astounded the wallcrawler verily.

"Ahh, that's way better." Ranma commented as he began circling his arms, as if innervating the blood-circulation. This was just for show in fact, but it had the desired effect of putting Spider-Man off even more. "Ya know, that with the extra arms was just an experiment with my DNA. One I ain't satisfied with as ya can probably guess. Will need loads and loads of training before I can use 'em arms effectively, it seems." he added.

Peter's brows had climbed even higher into his hairline, if that was even possible. "Ex... Experiment with your DNA?" he asked, stunned. "You changed your DNA to grow these arms, and you just now reabsorbed them 'cause you weren't satisfied with the results?" he added incredulously.

Ranma's grin grew even wider, making him look like something out of a horror movie. Spider-Man had bought it. "Ya got a problem with that? Oh, yeah," he chuckled, "you will get a prob with that."

—**_Ranma, had we not agreed to restrict the use of the 'monster visage' to the scum of the city? —_** Sym interjected in a chiding tone.

'**Oops.'** Ranma sheepishly replied inside his mind. **'It just happened, Sym. I had that overwhelming need to smirk and it suddenly formed. Well, no need to cry over spilt milk. I wanted to unsettle him, and is guess I did, eh?'** he added in a chuckle.

Sym made a noise inside their mind that sounded like a huff. **_— Undoubtedly. —_** the symbiotic being replied dryly. **_— Yet I strongly suggest you refrain from using our tendrils and weapon forming abilities as it would compromise us further. —_**

**''Kay, Sym. And now to the lesson I promised him...'** Ranma thought back with a wicked grin.

"This is all very interesting and I'd love to chat about how you managed to reform your DNA," Spider-Man commented with his head cocked to the left, "but I really gotta be somewhere else. So, six arms or two arms don't matter against a real Spider. Bring it on!"

Ranma grinned inside his face mask, his 'monster visage' contorting into a wicked grin. "Ya wanted it, ya get it. Let's dance."

-.-

And the dance began in earnest. Ranma immediately upped the speed a few notches as he didn't see any reason to augment his abilities to Spider-Man's level any longer. He and Sym had agreed to end the spar as soon as possible with their victory seeing that they had other priorities. The symbiote clad martial artist grinned at the surprise that was visible in his opponent's posture as his fist made blurring and probably painful contact with the other man's face, the punch sending the wallcrawler straight into a dusty grey house façade about ten metres behind them.

Ranma followed up on this attack immediately by jumping forward in a single leap and brought his left fist forward—intent on punching Peter in the same spot again—in another blurring motion, but Spider-Man's lightning quick reflexes alerted him just in time which enabled him to push himself out of the shallow indention he had made. The webslinger somersaulted over Ranma's head and fired his webbing in mid jump and gave the webbing—which had made contact with Ranma's torso—a strong tug as soon as he had landed and anchored his feet to the ground.

The surprised Ranma was consequently thrown through the air, this time it being his turn to be thrown into a housewall. He briefly shook his head to clear it and jumped clear of Spider-Man's follow-up—a roundhouse kick to the head as he noted—when his danger sense flared again which caused him to duck his head, Peter's follow-up punch missing by centimetres and impacting the red brick-housewall he had been thrown into seconds before, chips of stone raining to the ground from the hole Peter had created.

'**That will teach me to underestimate him just because he is weaker than me. He is good.'** Ranma thought as he switched into a defensive stance.

—**_Agreed, Ranma. Being the superior fighter does not ensure victory, as you well know. I can only coerce you to exhibit constant vigilance, even a lucky punch can determine the outcome of a fight. —_** Sym commented.

Ranma gave a mental nod as he appraised the combat stance Peter had assumed from his position about five metres away from his own position. It was a carefully offensive stance that made use of a low centre of gravity, something, so Ranma mused, Peter could only adopt due to his Spider powers which gave his body well above average dexterity and flexibility. The blonde haired young man rolled his neck first to the right, then to the left, producing twin subsequent cracks, the vicious grin that spread on his face contorting the 'monster visage' even further.

"Ya're good, Spider-Man, I give you that. It's been a long time since I last had such a good spar, and we gotta do it again some time. But now I'm in a hurry and fear that I gotta kick it up a few notches." he said conversationally, only to become completely serious in a matter of milliseconds. "Red Hammer double!" he yelled, and two angry red spheres of energy based on the anger he held for the world rocketed forward.

Spider-Man was so surprised by this unexpected turn of events and the impressive speed behind the strange energy attacks that even his reflexes were not fast enough to bring him out of harms way. Ranma had aimed his energy attack for Peter's chest and abdomen and his attack hit dead on, exploding upon impact and throwing Spider-Man bodily and forcefully into a cluster of trash bins in midst of which he came to lie in a groaning heap.

Ranma was so satisfied with the attack that he didn't notice that snow had begun to fall from the grey sky in thick flakes, but his resident symbiote had and felt it prudent to alert his host.

—**_Ranma, you should hurry to get away if you do not wish for Spider-Man to learn that you and your 'sister' are one and the same. —_** Sym warned in an urgent tone.

'**Huh? Why is that?'** Ranma thought back as he continued to keep an eye on the groaning webslinger who was just pushing himself to his feet. His quick reflexes ensured that he was able to block the punch Spider-Man—who had jumped forward in a flash, obviously unwilling to give up, a character trait Ranma could respect and relate to—threw at his solar plexus.

His retaliation, a rapid punch to Spider-Man's ribs sent the other man tumbling to the ground yet again, and Ranma kept his attention completely fixated on Peter Parker who had rolled with the impact and jumped back to his feet in the blink of an eye.

—**_Look up, Ranma. —_** Sym suggested urgently, realising that his host was not inclined to pay intention to anything but his opponent.

Ranma leapt ten metres backwards in a high backwards somersault and finally did as his symbiote had suggested, his eyes widening behind his face-mask as he realised what Sym had alluded to.

'**Uh oh.'** he replied, his mental voice filled with a hint of worry as he countered Spider-Man's attacks on autopilot, the many years of his father drilling these automatic responses into him coming to good use. **'I see watcha mean, Sym. Any way to prevent the change?'**

—**_Just one. —_** Sym answered to his surprise, his symbiote's mental voice containing some uneasiness while his host had jumped forward and had decked Spider-Man with a straight-forward punch to the chin that sent the wallcrawler a good ten metres backwards.

'**Do it, Sym.'** Ranma replied in a tone that communicated the trust he held for his symbiote.

—**_Affirmative. —_** Sym replied, his voice holding a note of the satisfaction he felt due to his hosts' trust.**_— Prior to implementation I will explain what I will do, though. This manoeuvre will prevent the change by me closing the pores that allow for heat regulation, amongst things. This will effectively rob the water off its working surface._**

—**_But be warned, due to us being in battle—which logically results in a higher than normal production of body heat—I am not able to keep your pores closed for a time span longer than ten minutes. Any attempt to would greatly endanger your health. —_** the symbiote warned in a dead serious tone.

'**Understood.'** Ranma replied, tensing his body in an attempt to prepare himself. **'Do it.'** he added as he watched Spider-Man preparing himself to attack yet again.

Sym complied and Ranma felt one of the strangest feelings ever wash over him as his symbiote closed all of his pores in a moments notice. A feeling of being trapped, being encased came to the forefront of his mind, and Ranma had to consciously remind himself that it was Sym who was 'entrapping' him to shake this frightening feeling, this primal fear off.

He had just managed to get a hold of himself when something big, black and hulking landed on the street…

-.-

Spider-Man was not having a good day. First Jonah had 'convinced' him to go photo-hunting on his first day off in over half a year, which put him into a tight spot with MJ—and even if she wouldn't say so, he knew his wife well enough to know that this was the case—and then, to top things off he got the stuffing beat outta him to boot. And now, seemingly as the icing on the cake Venom had joined the fray. Hooyah.

"Well, well, well, if that ain't the spider that will soon have crawled for the last time." Venom drawled as he advanced on Spider-Man menacingly, his maw filled with pointy teeth contorted into a manic grin.

The wallcrawler shook his head in dismay. "That just ain't my day." he complained, readying himself for yet another, yet this time much more serious fight against an opponent whose mainspring was to gut him.

"'fraid to disappoint you, Eddie, but I am already engaged in a fight. Sorry to say that, well not really, but ya gotta go and do whatever you do when you're not trying to kill lil ol' me." Spider-Man sneered.

"Your fight is with us, Parker!" Venom snarled, teeth barred with his tongue dancing in his gaping maw in obvious agitation.

Peter was about to reply when he caught sight of Chaos, who had hidden himself in the shadows. What he saw caused his jaw to nearly fall of its hinges, and Venom, who saw the changed demeanour in his arch-nemesis chanced a look as well…

-.-

**A few moments earlier**

'**What the fuck is that?'** Ranma asked himself as he caught sight of the black, hulking something that had landed on the street, letting go of a string of webbing. **'That looks like Venom, but he's so much bigger than when I last saw him!'**

Ranma slunk back into the shadows to gain additional information and willed himself to become invisible, having no idea what Venom was capable of. He didn't really expect to get an answer to his unfocussed mental query, but changes in the combat suit and them suddenly becoming visible again gave a rather explicit and impressive physical response shortly prior to a mental one.

The martial artist felt Sym forming swirling tendrils around his body, and watched in morbid fascination as the tips of the tendrils assumed a dagger-like quality—the dagger tips looking very sharp and deadly—followed by a raise of his power-level as Sym began to draw on his ki.

—_**This is my 'parent', Ranma, the symbiote bonded to Eddie Brock, whom you met on Ryker's Island. Don't be fooled into believing that he would not harm us if he could. His symbiote, my parent, thrives on the hate and anger that Eddie Brock feels for Spider-Man, it revels in them, enjoys these feelings to the utmost.**_

—_**I suggest to not hold back against them, for they will neither. Especially because 'parents' of my species hate their 'children'. —**_

Ranma gave the mental equivalent of an understanding nod. **'So that's why you reacted so… adversely just now.'**

—_**Yes. Remember what I said, don't hesitate to use force. The host has already been tainted by hate and anger and is beyond saving. — **_

'**Thanks for the advice, Sym. But I'll judge them myself if you don't mind.'** Ranma replied dryly in a slightly chiding tone, unsure if he could believe his symbiote. He silently wondered if hate for his 'parent' wasn't driving Sym to convince him to dispose of Venom, but decided to put it off for the time being. He would soon find out how Brock would react to his presense. **''kay, lets jump into the breach.'**

—**_Indeed. Full combat status is in effect. —_** Sym replied, and to Ranma it sounded… eagerly.

Ranma drove these thoughts from his mind and prepared himself, his watchful eyes trained on Venom who slowly turned around to face him.

-.-

To say that Venom was irritated would have been an insult to the word understatement. He had finally found their arch-nemesis after a long and frustrating search and was just about to deliver the just and long overdue punishment, only to be interrupted by—

"What the hell!" Venom exclaimed in surprise, the extreme bafflement in his voice stemming from the visual of the newcomer disrupting his mental tirade. "We see," he then added a few moments later to the nearing symbiote clad Ranma who had kept walking forward at a slow clip, "you must be our spawn."

"Damn!" Spider-Man swore softly at having his worries confirmed. He was not particularly eager to engage two symbiote-enhanced humans, especially now that he knew that Chaos played in the big guys' league. These two double-teaming him would be an unmitigated disaster.

"And?" Ranma queried as he came to a stop about five metres away from Venom, his tendrils swirling around his body in random patterns.

"We would like to know what your business here is. Spider-Man is ours to kill!" Venom exclaimed heatedly, his pointy teeth barred in an angry hiss.

'**Nothing new there. Can only hope Chaos won't join the crazy nut or I can start saying my prayers. And I haven't even ordered my affairs.'** Spider-Man thought wryly from a safe distance. **'Bad spider. Don't even think of dying on MJ, not even in humour.'** he chided himself.** 'But I really hope Chaos is as decent a guy as he seemed.'**

"So you wanna kill him?" Ranma mused, inclining his head in a thoughtful posture.

"Yes!" Venom snarled viciously, yet his face contorted into a wicked grin a few moments later. "What is it to you? You want to help us?"

Ranma cocked his head to the right. "Why should I kill him? Because he allegedly ruined your life and all that shit? Sorry, no can do. Spider-Man and me were just sparring, and I have no reason to kill him. He hasn't done anything that warrants that.

"'sides," he added as Venom growled menacingly, "Spidey is a good sparring partner and I intent to keep him, even if his footwork is a bit sloppy and in dire need of improvement."

Spider-Man chuckled and allowed himself to feel relieved. Not only was Chaos unlikely to join forces with Venom, but the way in which he had told Eddie off had been brilliant as well. It was a memory he would probably relish until the day he died. Peter grinned behind his mask and his attention wandered back to Venom, and he nearly broke out in gales of laughter as he caught sight of Venom's facial expression.

It seemed he was just a hairsbreadth away from bursting a vessel, and he was looking as black as thunder. "You insolent brat!" he finally snarled in absolute fury. "No one and nothing makes fun of us, and no force on this planet is gonna stop us from killing Spider-Man! If you stand in our way we will grind your puny bones into dust!" he promised coldly.

"Ya're welcome ta try, pus-face. But if ya try ya're gonna regret it." Ranma promised in a low and menacing voice that seemed to cut straight through Venom like a blast of cold air.

Silence descended upon the alley for a few moments after this unveiled threat and snow kept on falling from a grey sky, coating the sidewalks which served to create a winterly atmosphere that would normally have raised the spirit. Spider-Man was as oblivious to this as the symbiote clad men as his mind kept on going over Chaos' behaviour of the last minutes. The young man was a surprise in many ways, and maybe, just maybe he would turn out to be a friend. After all, anyone who had the guts to oppose Venom was well in with him any day.

Sudden movement on Venom's part brought Spider-Man out of his musings, and the adrenaline suddenly pumping through his veins placed him on high alert and resulted in a heightening of his senses. But it wasn't him that the black-clad super villain attacked, which was a honest to goodness relief after the taxing 'spar'. It was difficult enough to survive an encounter with Venom on a normal day, but being bruised and somewhat beaten didn't make him particularly eager to cross the proverbial swords with Venom. The glancing blows Chaos had landed on him had left their mark, the right side of his chest felt as if at least three ribs had been cracked, and he'd probably be feeling the bruises he had accumulated all over his body for days.

'**I really hope Eddie bit off more than he can chew, 'cause if anyone deserves a thorough trashing it's him. Heh, it might even set some things straight in his head. Although, that's probably asking too much.'** Peter thought wryly as he focussed his attention on the two symbiote clad men who were busy trading blows. **'But I had the distinct feeling that Chaos was holding back—a lot. Could just be that he will really kick it up a notch and eat Eddie for breakfast. At least it ain't me who's being beaten upon.'** he mused with a wry smile.

In the second Spider-Man had thought this Venom had already rushed at Chaos yet again, his snarling maw spitting forth the words "We will teach you your place yet, whelp!"

Venom had his right arm reared back and was just moments away from connecting—painfully—with Chaos face, yet said young man made no apparent move to defend himself. He just stood there with his arms at his sides, looking perfectly bored. To the contrary, instead of initiating a defensive move the other symbiote clad man raised his left hand to his gaping maw to stifle a huge yawn. But at the last possible moment—and much to Venom's surprise—Chaos simply extended the palm of his left hand and Venom's much larger fist impacted said palm with a meaty thwack.

Spider-Man's eyes widened behind his mask as no visible effect other than air being displaced occurred. Chaos held Brock's right fist securely in a painful looking grip with no visible sign of being strained or even remotely taxed, and raised his right hand to his maw to stifle another yawn.

"Is that it?" Chaos inquired in a totally bored tone as he seemed to inspect the fist he had just caught, his body language showing that he was completely relaxed.

Venom roared in answer and brought his left fist—which amassed to about three quarters the size of Ranma's face—in, intent on bashing his skull in like a ripe tomato. But despite all the power and speed behind the blow—which, as Spidey admitted to himself he had no prayer to survive—it didn't fare any better than its predecessor. Ranma deftly caught the fist as well, making apparent just how little effort it had cost him.

—**_Ranma, I suggest finishing off my… 'parent' —_** Sym laced the word with pure contempt, **_— as soon as possible. You have five minutes until I will be forced to reopen your pores, which will then induce the gender change seeing that the weather is set against you. —_**

'**Understood, Sym.'** Ranma replied, taking note of the snow that kept on falling from the skies in thick flakes, fact that didn't bother him much. Five minutes were more han enough to inflict pain. His eyes turned cold behind his mask and Ranma flipped the much heavier Venom above his head, sending the symbiote-clad ex-reporter flying in an involuntary somersault. The throw had been so forceful and strong that the super villain had no chance to react, ending up embedded face-first in a housewall.

Ranma grinned devilishly as he had created yet another indention in yet another housewall in the space of minutes and idly wondered if he should found a demolition company. The destructive potential and talent required was definitely there, he thought wryly as he slipped into a basic defensive stance, snow falling down on him, his grin widening at seeing that his opponent was obviously getting angry. He just loved them angry.

-.-

To call Venom just angry would have done the word understatement injustice. The symbiote clad man was beyond pissed and rapidly approaching nuclear. Due to his symbiote he was blessed with an impressive recovery rate, and his resolve to make this puny upstart pay grew ad infinitum. It was time that this fledgling learned his place, and he would enjoy putting him into said place.

He snarled deeply and peeled himself out of the indention he had made, pushing himself out of it by making a backwards somersault. The tall man landed on the ground and used it as a springboard to catapult himself at the little shit at speeds that rivalled Spider-Man's.

Said wallcrawler had limited himself to watch the confrontation of the symbiote clad men and witnessed how Venom twisted his body in midair, jumping straight at Chaos with his teeth barred, a threatening and angry growl coming from deep within his throat. Eddie Brock didn't really have much in ways of martial arts and was more of a brawler, something that had suited him just fine seeing that his symbiote-enhanced strength had up till now been more than sufficient to ensure his superiority, but he was certain that his abilities would suffice to dispose of the little pest in his path.

The self-proclaimed lethal protector discarded Chaos' prior display of prowess and power as a fluke and stroke of luck that had been aided and abetted by the fact that he hadn't used his full strength, and him breaking through the cheap imitations' defences proved that in his mind. Venom roared in satisfaction as his massive right fist connected with the right side of Chaos' face with a satisfying and meaty sound. He was certain that the puny hero wannabe's head would sever from his shoulders any moment now, and they didn't feel any remorse. He had made his bed when he had sided with Spider-Man, this bad copy of them hadn't stood a chance right from the start.

Sudden surprise began to spread through Venom's glee filled mind as his senses told him that Chaos' head didn't seem to want to come off, and his confusion grew. Regardless how much pressure he applied even with his feet now anchored to the ground after landing, Chaos head wasn't to be moved another inch. To the contrary, Chaos slowly turned his head towards him, his inky black teeth—which seemed to be sharper and pointier than ever—contorted into a wicked grin.

"For a supposed finishing blow that was surprisingly weak." Chaos commented in a matter of fact tone, and his suddenly blurring right hand grabbed Venom's much larger hand by the wrist, applying crushing and painful pressure to it. Venom gasped in pain as the iron grip began to crack his bones, but regardless how hard he tried, he had no success in freeing his hand.

—**_Rip him apart, Ranma. — _**Sym whispered seductively, releasing a stream of pheromones into his host's bloodstream at the same time.

**'I'm not convinced that he's as rotten as you say, and he ain't a rapist, Sym. I won't kill him this time, but I'll show him he ain't got a prayer if he tries to fuck with us. And that I'll introduce him to a fella called U.R. Dead next time around.'** Ranma thought back as he applied ever increasing pressure to Brock's hand while trying to resist the images of violence that flashed through his mind, the result being that the first bones snapped seeing as Brock's symbiote wasn't any longer able to protect his host from injury.

—**_Not as far reaching as I would have liked, but better than nothing. —_** Sym conceded. **_— Soon you will see the truth about my parent anyway when he comes back for more, and then you will hopefully not back down. —_**

**'We shall see, Sym. Now to banging him up.'** Ranma replied.

His smirk widened and he decided to start big considering that he was on a tight schedule. Without preamble he fired a devastating series of five hundred Amaguriken punches delivered by his free left fist to Venom's gut, the pain resulting from the blows driving Venom to one knee, an agonised gasp escaping him as ribs began to crack under the assault. He vainly tried to get oxygen into his protesting lungs after the assault was over, but Ranma didn't grant him this reprieve. The martial artists' right foot lashed out just as his right hand let go of Brock's wrist, and the crushing kick caught Venom right at his elongated chin, sending him flying backwards against a street light that snapped in half under the impact .

—**_Three minutes left, Ranma. —_** Sym reminded his host. **_— And the punch did hurt. If it weren't for our healing abilities we would sport a nice bruise. —_** he added chidingly.

'**Details, details, Sym. Seeing his surprise was worth it in the end. Now to make good use of the three minutes.'** Ranma replied, cracking his knuckles.

He was vaguely aware that Spider-Man was watching him with what could only be surprise intermingled with awe, but he was too focussed on the bigger fish he had to fry as to allow himself to care. Ranma exploded into action so suddenly that he seemed to blur to the other two super powered beings on site, reappearing with his fist deeply buried in Venom's already hurting gut.

The black clad villain had just managed to regain his bearings and get back to his feet when he felt pain explode in his gut again, and this time some of his ribs gave way under the pressure. Only his symbiote allowed him to stay in the fight at this point, but the pain numbing pheromones took their toll on Eddie Brock's body. The situation did indeed look bleak, and only his pride kept him from making a tactical retreat. Worst of all was that he hadn't even seen his opponent move, nor had his symbiote, which was very unsettling. Eddie tried to bring his arms up in an attempt to ward off the follow up—which made him look like a boxer in a deeply defensive stance a hairsbreadth away from being knocked out—but he had been too slow and was flung backwards by a sudden vicious yellow and black energy blast that sent him barrelling into the same-self cluster of trash bins Spider-Man had ended up in not long ago.

Venom growled in rage beyond limits at being humiliated by this upstart, but before he could do anything about it he felt himself being lifted bodily into the air. His right foot lashed out in anger at being treated thusly, the kick aimed for Chaos' right kneecap. The kick never connected though, much to Venom's surprise and annoyance, it being intercepted by two of the tendrils flaring around Chaos' body in random and erratic patterns.

Chaos inched his head forward until he was mere centimetres away from Venom's face. "I am nothing like you, Venom. I don't go blaming others for my own faults and let myself be tainted by my hate and anger until it has twisted me beyond recognition. I focus my hate and anger and use it as my shield, my weapon. They are my incentive, my drive.

"Asking me to help kill Spider-Man was your first mistake, demanding I step aside and let you kill him your second. Your third and final mistake," he elongated his fangs slowly and casually stopped an attempt to shatter his left kneecap, "was to attack me.

"I won't kill you this time to save Spider-Man the trouble of trying to arrest me, but attack me ever again and I will tear you limb from limb." he promised coldly, his free tendrils pointing their razor-sharp tips directly at Brock's skull.

To further emphasise his point he let his left fist fly and punched it up to his elbow into the thick concrete wall he had pinned Venom against. "I am not like Spider-Man, I am no hero with morals. I will do what I promised if you push me to it. This is a promise, and I always keep my promises. Now good night."

Faster than the steamrolled Venom—who had just realised that Chaos meant every word of what he had just said and that he possessed the power to do so—could see he found a fist planted in his face that sent damage reports to his brain, inducing painful unconsciousness nearly instantly thereafter. As the prone form of Venom slumped in on itself Ranma retracted his tendrils and let him slump to the ground before turning to Spider-Man.

"Do with him what you want, Spider-Man, and thanks for the spar. Gotta go." he said and jumped ten metres upwards where he adhered to a worn looking building's surface.

Spider-Man visibly shook himself out of his stupor. "Err, yeah. Wait! I still got a load of questions!"

"Sorry," Ranma grinned from his position ten metres above, "my secrets are mine to keep. See ya around." he exclaimed and used his webbing to swing away.

-.-

The ex-Saotome landed soundlessly in a back-alley a few blocks away, and Sym immediately reopened his pores. The feeling of slow overheating and suffocation instantly vanished and Ranma took a few deep breaths. He then willed his combat suit to reform itself into a pair of blue jeans, a black hoodie sweater and a thick, black down coat over it and brown boots.

A grin slowly spread on Ranma's face as he looked up into the grey sky. That was nature at its purest, and it seemed to make all problems go away, even his. Nature seemed to have a way of calming him down, he mused as snowflakes landed on his uncovered hands and in his hair, melting in a small rivulet down his neck. But the young martial artist and host of Sym did not care, and when he felt the familiar tingling sensation that signified the change he didn't mind in the slightest. The feeling of wind or even rain on her skin, and, most of all fresh air and the freedom to go wherever she wanted and to do what she wanted, those were the things she had missed the most during her time in prison. That, and being treated like a human being.

She felt Sym move as her symbiote adapted her clothes to fit her changed gender, and the blonde woman that stood in place of the blonde young man closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of snow on her now softer and more sensitive skin. She had routinely checked her surroundings upon her arrival as she had been trained to do ab initio, and the playground located in a small park about two hundred metres away called to her.

It was a simple playground, consisting just of a set of swings and a teeter-totter, but it was a small oasis in an otherwise bleak quarter nonetheless. Ranma pulled up her hood and slowly walked towards the park, directly heading for the swings. The blonde sat down on the wooden seat and willed thick gloves onto her hands before grabbing the steel ropes, and her mind reflected upon how much she had missed out on while growing up.

The young martial artist suddenly grinned like a little kid, muttered "Hell, why not?" stood up and braced herself against the seat of the swing. Ranma held onto the ropes and pushed against the seat beneath her, bent her knees under the swing, then kicked her feet forwards. Her heels hit the ground on the rebound, and Ranma smiled to herself. She had never been on a swing before in her life, and she found that she enjoyed it, even if it was admittedly childish. But then, on the other hand, she had never been allowed to be a child, she mused, which meant she was allowed some leeway.

Ranma stopped swinging after several repeats and simply revelled in the sensations of snow falling around her for a few minutes, not caring how much time passed. She didn't even bother to chance a look to see who had joined her, Sym already having informed her of his approach. Burrowing herself deeper into her comfy down coat Sym had formed to give the outward appearance that she needed protection against the elements—which she in fact did not, seeing as Sym always maintained the optimum body temperature of her host—Ranma enjoyed the clear, cold winter air and sighed contently. She had had a real good fight with Doc Ock, a neat spar with Spidey and yet another good fight with Venom. All things considered a pretty successful day at the office, as they say.

"Miss," the said someone that had landed in front of her said, which prompted her to open her eyes and look at him, "have you by chance seen someone swing by? Tall, muscular, about 1.85m. Wears a red and black costume. Was probably a few minutes ago."

"I am sorry, Spider-Man. I was so engrossed in enjoying this wonderful winter day that I did not notice anyone." Ranma replied with the most innocent face she could muster, gloved hands resting on the ropes.

"I see." the webslinger replied with a nod, sounding vaguely disappointed. "Thank you nonetheless. But you should really get back home, Miss. It's said to get a lot colder throughout the day."

Ranma smiled due to his concern and got to her feet. "Thanks for worrying, Spider-Man. I'll be on my way."

"How about I walk you to the main street?" he suggested. "One does never know what lurks in the shadows around here."

The blonde gender-changer turned to smile teasingly at the super-hero. "Is that your standard pick-up line?" she teased, eyes alight with mischief.

"Heavens, no." Spider-Man replied with a chuckle, holding up his hands. "I was just trying to be a good little spider, and ensuring that a beautiful young lady such as yourself returns safely to the fold is part of that."

"And here I had thought that true gentlemen had been extinct for some time now." Ranma retorted in a teasing tone, not minding his attempts at chivalry. He was married after all and a pretty decent guy, thus she didn't see the need to be frosty. "Okay, you may lead the way, Spider-Man. And if I may inquire, what were you doing here? Secret super hero business?" she queried.

Spider-Man began to walk and led them out of the alley, Ranma walking by his side. "No, nothing secret at all." he replied in an amused tone. "It'll probably make front page tomorrow anyway.

"I was just involved in a fight against Venom." he explained, presuming that she knew who Venom was. "I was more of a bystander than anything else and had the pleasure to watch how Venom got his ass handed to him by a new guy named Chaos. Banged him up pretty bad, and the guys from the Vault—that's where he'll be carted off to now—had no trouble at all. He was still unconscious when they placed him in a special transporter designed by Reed, Reed Richards. It was all bloody unreal.

"Excuse the language," he added, "I am still pretty baffled by what that guy could do. If only…"

"If only what?" Ranma inquired curiously, secretly pleased that Spider-Man had reported the events truthfully.

"If only Chaos and his sister weren't so much like the Punisher in their attitudes. I can't really judge him or his sister Scarlet Widow, but their attitudes are worrisome." Spider-Man elaborated in a serious tone.

"Like the Punisher?" Ranma asked curiously, inwardly wondering if that was a bad thing.

"Yeah. You have probably read about him in the papers. He kills those that he deems wanting, though I have to admit that he always only kills the bad guys." Spider-Man explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"You mean an eye for an eye, no captives and all that?" Ranma implored, her curious gaze not leaving the webslinger.

"You don't seem to be bothered by that, Miss." Spider-Man deduced from her tone of voice, his suspicions rising.

Ranma shook her head. "Not really. My best friend Ami nearly got killed in a fight between DareDevil and Bullseye a while ago," she replied angrily, drawing on the memories Sym had 'inherited' from Peter, "and that changed my outlook on those super villains. I mean, you guys with super powers usually seem to live in a wholly different world that doesn't really seem to pertain us, but it's often enough that we ordinary humans get caught in the crossfire. Ami was a very glaring case and it's a miracle she's alive and well. But how many innocents got killed in these fights in the past, and how many will be?" she inquired, gazing at Spider-Man with a mixture of sadness and helpless anger.

—**_That is a dangerous path you are walking, Ranma. —_** Sym commented. **_— You must realise how odd it is for Spider-Man to meet a civilian who is of the exact same opinion as Scarlet Widow so close to the 'crime scene'. The odds for this are barely computable. — _**

**'Barely computable? Come on, Sym! It took Spidey more than ten minutes to get here, and we're far enough away from the 'crime scene' for him to only be slightly suspicious, if at all. It's a risk alright, but if I play my cards right it'll be worth it in the end. That's why I pretend to care for his opinion. And he won't be able to prove or disprove if my 'friend' Ami exists.'** Ranma thought back.

—_**It is too late to do much of anything now anyway. Either he buys it or we are compromised. — **_

"Miss?" Spider-Man asked when he realised that the young woman hadn't heard what he had said which was evidenced by her far away look.

Ranma shook her head. "Sorry, Spider-Man. I just had a flashback to how Ami was lying in that hospital bed hooked up to all kinds of machines." she explained and gave a very convincing shudder.

Spider-Man's posture radiated understanding and sympathy. "Sorry, I know the kind of feelings that evokes." he replied earnestly, and Ranma nearly felt bad for her act. But only nearly. "Well, I had said that you were right. As much as I wish it weren't so, I can't deny it." he admitted.

Ranma sighed and gazed intently at the wallcrawler while performing a mental victory dance. She had him. Hook, line and sinker. "And that's the problem. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how much or if the bad guys care about the lives, or even the safety and health of normal people like Ami and me?

"Villains like Bullseye, Doctor Octopus and Venom couldn't care less how many die as long as they succeed with their schemes of the day. That's the way I see it, and many others as well. So if there's someone out there who repays them in kind it only means I can sleep better at night."

"I see your point," Spider-Man conceded with a nod, his slight suspicions that the young woman might be Scarlet Widow alleviated, "and I admit that one could undoubtedly see it this way. But I for my part can not bring myself to just kill them. It would take away their chance to reform, and it would mean I would not be any better than them." he reasoned.

"It's not wrong to have morals," Ranma agreed with an inclination of her head, "but let this girl ask you a question: you have just said that Venom was put outta commission and to be carted back to prison.

"So what happens when he escapes again and kills someone simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Wouldn't you be indirectly responsible for this death because you didn't stop him permanently?" she asked, her blue eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Spider-Man sighed and slowed his pace, his masked head turning to her to—how Ranma mused—look her into the eyes. "You are not the first to utilise this logic, Miss. I admit that there might be something to it, and I'll dwell on it, but to kill my enemies is something I just can not conciliate with my morals."

Ranma—who noticed that they had nearly reached the 3rd street—shot him a smile. "Glad I have given you food for thought. You know, we 'normal' people are really fed up that the good guys pull their punches against the baddies, which normally results in us getting hurt or killed. It's good to see you're at least willing to consider dropping the kid gloves."

"Food for thought, yeah. I really gotta think about it." Spider-Man said as he came to a stop about twenty metres away from the main street. "I thank you for reminding me what the 'normal' people think. We up there tend to forget the worries of the normal population, 'cause we do tend to leave them behind. Comes with the occupation, I'm afraid." he added with a shrug.

The blonde haired gender changer smiled at the humour in his voice. "You're welcome. And thank you for escorting me to 'safety'. Bye." she called and walked onto the sidewalk of the 3rd street, mingling with the crowd within moments.

The webslinger watched the young woman who had indeed given him the 'normal people's' opinion straight from the mouth of the horse for several moments before crawling up the side of the building. Once he had reached the rooftop he started his journey back to his flat, all the while contemplating what the young woman had said.

-.-

Ranma smiled inwardly as she strolled down the street. The talk with Spider-Man had gone over well—which even Sym admitted—and while she didn't believe that Peter would start killing super villains left, right and centre in his future encounters with them he might just be a bit more open-minded about the deeds of Scarlet Widow and her 'brother' in the future. His behaviour had suggested that he could at the least understand where people with this kind of attitude were coming from.

The blonde nodded to herself and pasted a neutral expression on her face, taking deep breaths of the cool winter air. It had been 'luxury' like this she had missed out on the most during her stay in prison, the simple luxury of taking a stroll and enjoying her freedom. Never again would her freedom be taken away from her, never again would she be so naïve as to trust in the legal systems of the world. If she wanted justice she would have to procure it herself, legal systems be damned. And she would do exactly that, right after she had established an identity and raised the necessary funds to live comfortably.

The admiring looks several men shot her as she passed them by on the sidewalk were like water off a duck's back, yet they served to amuse her. How many hearts would she—have to—'break', how many—hormonally induced—male hopes to squelch? Considering her improved looks probably even more than in lil ol' Nerima, she thought wryly. Ranma shook these thoughts off and forced herself to focus on her immediate plans. Getting an ID—for both forms—was the definite priority at the moment, raising funds another.

She'd have to find out which authority was responsible for granting IDs around here and plan from there. Sym's and her own stealth abilities should be enough to overcome just about any security system in the world, but she'd have to work out how to create the IDs. In short, she'd have to play it by ear, as so often.

Ranma paused in her stroll for a moment to gather her bearings, her gaze coming to rest on a hairdresser's shop by chance. A delicate brow climbed into the hairline as her gaze travelled from toupee to toupee. Some of the hairstyles on display were definitely interesting, and that one hair-colour…

'**Hmm, strawberry blond… a mix of the old me and the new me…'** Ranma absently mused as she stroked her chin with her right index finger and thumb, **'Sym,'** she added a few moments later, having come to a spontaneous decision, **'could you alter my genes so that my hair would acquire that colour? I kinda miss my red hair.'**

—**_Positive, Ranma. —_** Sym replied, understanding echoing in her mental voice. **_— You should however seek a remote place for the implementation of the genetic changes I will have to conduct. It will undoubtedly be painful. —_**

'**I'm no stranger to pain, Sym.'** Ranma wryly mused.

—**_True. Your pain threshold is, for lack of better term, stupidly high. —_** Sym mused with a hint of amusement in her voice. **_— It will probably not be as painful as the initial genetic modifications, and I assume you should be able to limit your reaction to a muffled scream, if at all. —_** the symbiote added.

'**Thanks for the compliment, I think.'** Ranma wryly thought back. **'Hmm, methinks a public restroom should do then.'** she added as she walked off in search of such a locality.

-.-

Three minutes later Ranma had found something even better. Following the logic that an ice cream parlour had to have restrooms she entered an establishment named 'Angelo's', pulled her hood down, took her 'gloves' off and shook her head a few times to straighten out her hair to some degree. Ranma ignored the appreciative looks several male patrons shot her way and walked straight to the counter, asking the man behind said counter if she were allowed to use the restrooms.

Said man, a tall Italian in his mid-thirties of moderate attractiveness, looked up from the cash register where he was presently counting money, and the instant leer that appeared on his face made Ranma nearly want to retch. She had to focus her whole attention on the flirtatious and sultry voice of the man to properly concentrate on keeping the contents of her stomach contained. She nodded her head in thanks as soon as the man had liberally allowed her to use the facilities and made to get away from the man as fast as propriety allowed, acutely aware of his leering look on her bum.

Ranma suppressed a shudder of disgust as she descended the stairs that led to the restrooms—the toilet symbol at the wall her only reassurance that this was indeed the right way and not some attempt to spring a trap on her—and rounded a corner. She released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, and even if she didn't want to admit it, she was still as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs due to the rape attempt in prison but well on her way to overcome the fear. Shaking her head at her own unfounded fears she pushed open the door that led to the ladies restroom and entered.

Another consequence of the traumatic events in prison was that she had vowed to never flirt with vendors such as the guy upstairs ever again. It would have been as easy as stealing a lollipop from a baby to scam the guy out of ice cream, she thought as she entered the stall and locked the door, but this part of her was dead and buried. She hadn't really understood what being female meant before her ordeal, but the happenings of the last seven months had changed everything, had rocked the world as she had known it.

Flirting—even to scam ice cream or treats—evoked certain hopes in the targets of said flirting, which had failed to bother her in the past. She hadn't been a real girl in her mind which had meant that the flirting had been inconsequential, but the attempted rape—and her menses during her captivity—had changed the image she had had of her girl form and had ultimately led to her accepting the curse completely. When she was in this form she was a young woman, and all too acutely aware of what males like the pervert behind the counter upstairs wanted out of her.

She had already formulated a strategy to counter and discourage male attention, and she would go several steps beyond what her behaviour had been two minutes ago when she had talked to the Italian. She would become a complete Ice Queen bitch that would put even the hated middle Tendo daughter to shame. And those that weren't to be disencouraged by her freezing attitude would be persuaded using stronger means. Never would she allow a man to touch her body again, never ever.

'**Okay, Sym,'** Ranma finally thought after taking a few deep breaths to mentally prepare for the pain that was to come, **'do it.'**

Sym gave the mental equivalent of a nod and immediately initiated the genetic changes, changes that were indeed and gladly not as painful as the original ones her symbiote had wrought upon her body. Yet they were painful enough that Ranma had to bite back a pained scream as the genetic modifications were made to her body, and she was very relieved when the throbbing pain coursing through every cell faded to a dull ache and finally to nothingness after about two minutes.

Ranma's breath slowly returned to normal and she opened her eyes which she had kept tightly shut during the procedure, the tension finally fading from her body completely. The young gender changer took a few deep breaths and took stock of her body via physical inspection, paying avid attention to any possible changes. Apart from the fact that her skin seemed to have taken on a slightly paler complexion she found no readily apparent changes. Shrugging to herself she pulled her jeans and panties down, seeing that she had to pee anyway, and was immediately reassured that the genetic changes had been a complete success.

Grinning to herself and feeling even more at home in her new body now that it resembled her old form a bit more in that respect that it carried an alleviated reminder of how she had once looked Ranma conducted her business, smirking to herself due to the annoyed tone in which Sym asked if she had ever doubted her abilities. Pulling her panties and jeans back up she replied in a mock-grovelling mental tone that she'd never doubted the 'greatest symbiote ever' and exited the stall with a grin.

Ranma washed her hands and gave her reflection a long once-over in the mirror above the sink. She nodded appreciatively, her smile slowly but steadily growing bigger. Oh yes, that was more like it, that was her, she thought as she smiled at the strawberry blond young woman in the mirror, her reflection unsurprisingly smiling back at her. She would make one special lady very happy one day, but those were thoughts for the far future. First she had to get a life, get used to the city and its people. She just hoped that life in New York wouldn't be as crazy and chaotic as it had been back in Nerima, a lifetime ago.

-.-

Ranma walked out of the ice cream parlour with her head held high. The gigolo wannabe had predictably tried to hit on her—and the fact that she now looked different enough to be another woman, including that she had changed her clothes to thick, black leather pants and a thick white hoodie sweater with a white down jacket over it proved the fact that he apparently hit on anything that was alive, female and reasonably good looking. Yet she ignored him completely and allowed herself to revel in his astonished and slightly angry look at having failed to catch her attention and carried on as if he didn't even exist.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk she zipped up her jacket and pulled the hood over her head to keep the snow—which kept on falling in thick flakes from snow laden grey clouds—out of her hair. Her current priority was to find a map of New York or at least Manhattan which she wanted to memorise in detail with Sym's help, and the redhead made a right turn on a whim and started walking, her steps taking her further away from the alleyway where she had met Spider-Man in her civil identity.

Ranma walked at a moderate pace and took deep breaths of the cool winter air, enjoying the crunching sounds her boots made in the snow with every step. The redhead revelled in the feelings brought out by the winter weather and felt lucky to be alive and free, free of the narrow confines of her prison cell, free of the craziness her past life had been and free to live her life as she wanted.

It was a liberating yet frightening feeling at the same time. On the one hand no one was trying to run her life for her as had been standard in Nerima, but on the other hand she had to take care of herself, was responsible for her own well-being and survival and had to live with the consequences of her decisions and actions. It was part of becoming an adult, she realised, but she, in contrast to many others could call upon the help of her resident tenant, Sym.

The snow coating the world—or at least her small part of it—in a thick blanket of snow served to drive her anger at all the unfairness that had been thrown her way out of her mind. Feeling more human than in a long time brought an involuntary spring to her step, and Ranma didn't even attempt to suppress the smile that made its way onto her face as she caught sight of an over-dimensional map of Manhattan planted at a street corner.

The redhead allowed herself a satisfied nod as she strode over to the map and planted herself in front of it. With Sym's help Ranma committed every single detail to memory in the next two minutes, taking great care to memorise the locations of important buildings and places in particular. Now that she knew her way around here she could start taking care of her priorities, starting with gathering monetary assets. She already had a very good idea of how to proceed, the only question was to find the appropriate place.

-.-

Several hours later Ranma had finally acquired the information she had been seeking. It had been unfortunate that the continuously suboptimal weather conditions had not allowed for a change to male, for being in male form would have simplified things. People, especially 'tough guys' just didn't take girls seriously, yet a casual display of strength had convinced the patrons of the Irish pub named 'O'Reilley's'—which had been 'recommended' to her after forceful interrogations in the scene—that she was sure as hell a force to be reckoned with and no frail little doll. After the patrons of 'O'Reilley's' had grasped the fact that she meant business and considering her talent at breaking stuff—bones among them—they had hurriedly pointed her towards the lower East side of Manhattan, and she had been on her way and out of their lives without a second backwards glance.

The redhead grinned inside her face-mask as she landed lightly in front of the alleyway that marked her destination, an abandoned industrial zone, the freezing cold weather—not to mention the snow storm that currently blustered through the countryside—ensuring that no living soul was around to witness her arrival. Ranma didn't even feel the chilling cold which was only amplified by the bitter cold wind that swept through the streets, her symbiote ensuring that her body temperature was kept at a comfortable level at all times. She left the sidewalk at a slow clip, her combat suit reforming into the clothes she had 'worn' before her trip over to the abandoned industrial zone on her mental command, and entered the alleyway which was formed by the length-sides of two old warehouses with crumbling and worn looking façades and that led to the tournament arena.

—**_Ranma, —_** Sym spoke up, her voice cutting into Ranma's thoughts of how she'd be able to kick some ass, **_— I am quite certain that you do not wish to be easily identified during or after the fights, which is something I did not consider prior to conducting the latest genetic changes. Am I right to assume that this is the appearance you want to go with for the indeterminable future, and if so, may I offer suggestions? —_**

The redhead slowed her pace and thought it over for a few moments, pulling her hood over her head when the snow began to irritate her.**'Yes on both accounts, Sym. Go ahead.'**

—_**Very well. My first suggestion is to revert back to your blonde form. I do have no explanation for the phenomenon, but blonde human females attract more attention than any other 'types' of females, according to my observations.**_

—**_I am certain no one would connect your blonde form and your chosen form. All the spectators would remember is a blonde woman. The skin complexion is different enough, and we can alter hair length and style. —_** Sym suggested.

'**Good thinking, Sym. I would have rushed in as I am now.'** Ranma admitted sheepishly, jamming her hands into the pockets of her down coat. **'What is the other suggestion?'**

—**_First off, it is one I am not satisfied with, but you be the judge of its quality. You could form a face-mask to protect your identity better, but that creates the very real danger that someone might find out about our true nature if they manage to get a hold of us, as unlikely as that is. —_** Sym mused wryly.

'**Stranger things have happened to me in the past, Sym.'** Ranma thought back in a tone equally wry. **'It's better to be safe than sorry, thus we will go with the first suggestion. Go ahead, make the changes. And while we're at it, how 'bout a tattoo? It would—how did you put it—distinguish me further. Just take the tattoo I have in mind from my thoughts.'**

—**_Affirmative, Ranma. It will only hurt for a bit. —_** Sym added with slight humour to her voice.

Her host had time to think back **'Hah hah.' **before the pain started, signifying the genetic changes being conducted. The young gender changer grit her teeth so hard that she felt she could have crushed coal into diamond, but the pain that flared through her body like a white-hot lance was bearable, and all too soon it was over. In place of the strawberry blond woman from before stood a now pale blond woman, her former curly long hair standing up in short spikes, a long ponytail flowing down her back that constrated nicely with her short scalp hair.

Ranma wiped a few tears from the corners of her eyes, pulled her hands— which she had balled into tight fists during the genetic modifications—out of her pockets and strode down the narrow alleyway, the snow coating half visible trash littered on the ground. The newly blonde woman ignored everything in her path as she approached a sturdy looking steel door which blocked her path to the third warehouse that had to lay behind. A small sliding panel—about ten by ten centimetres in size—apparently had the function of a viewing hole, and Ranma deduced that someone had to be standing guard on the other side. Bringing her right hand up Ranma rapped her knuckles against the cold steel surface, noticing how rusty and worn the door looked.

A few seconds later the panel was slid to the side, and Ranma's blue eyes met the cold looking green eyes of another woman. Said woman was wrapped up in a thick black down coat, and her broad, pug-like face—as well as the rest of what she could see of her— reminded her a lot of the Amazon Shampoo had fought in the tournament in the village, a life-time ago.

"Watcha want, lil gal?" the woman asked in a voice that spoke of years of alcohol and nicotine abuse.

"I want to enter the tournament." Ranma replied in a chilling tone that matched hers to a tee.

"You?" the woman asked incredulously. "Hah! Doncha waste my time 'n' go back to playin' with yer dolls, princess." she added with a sneer and slammed the viewing hole shut in Ranma's face.

Said martial artist slowly nodded to herself a few times, her face as black as thunder as anger bubbled up inside of her. "If she wants it that way she gets it that way." she groused darkly, her lips compressed into a thin line.

Ranma then pondered the methods of removing the panel, being undecided between using a ki-blast and a plain old punch, finally coming to the conclusion that a straight-forward punch at half-strength should do the trick nicely. She grinned nastily in anticipation of the astounded face the bitch would be displaying in a few seconds and let her fist fly. The right-handed punch connected solidly with the panel, the force of the blow immediately blowing the said panel off its hinges and into the distance where it somewhere landed with repeated clattering sounds. The blow had bruised her knuckles and the knuckles of her ring and pinkie finger were bleeding, which would normally heal over in under a minute. But Ranma wanted to appear as human as possible and asked her symbiote to let it heal at a rate normal for humans. Sym agreed, commending her for her sneakiness.

The ex-Saotome mentally curtsied and stood patiently in front of the now permanently open viewing hole with her arms crossed under her breasts, and she didn't have to exhibit patience for long. The same woman appeared again, this time however a lot paler and a lot less arrogant.

"Just that you know, I broke my dolls' necks 'cause I hated 'em. Every single one of 'em. Now let me in or there won't be a door left." Ranma said coldly, her voice cutting through the older woman like an icy gust of wind.

The bouncer nodded shakily and hastily undid the latch barring the door shut, nearly tripping over herself as she pushed the door open. Ranma slipped through as soon as the opening allowed her, shooting the woman—who was a good head taller and much broader than her—a withering glare as she brushed past her as rudely as possible. The woman visibly shook in her boots—and not just from the cold—and closed the door behind Ranma, and said gender-changing martial artist gave her a last dark look before striding away towards her destination, another old warehouse just about five hundred metres ahead of her.

Ranma walked on at a brisk clip and exited the narrow alleyway, pausing for a moment to check the warehouse for entrances. She located two likely possibilities and strode over to the one closest to her position, a large steel door five hundred metres to the right. The blonde covered the distance in under half a minute and pulled the door open, entering what she recognised as a—dimly lit—staircase. A grin played on her face as she perceived shouting and cheering in the distance, which confirmed that this was indeed the right place.

Her grin became devilish as she reformed her clothes into a mid-rif baring skintight white shirt and a black, braided leather jacket that was the same length as her shirt, leaving her low cut black leather pants as they were. Even if the weather had forced her, there were indisputable advantages to entering the tournament as a female. 'Tough guys'—and the tournament's contestants undoubtedly liked to think of themselves as such—tended to underestimate females, and she'd relish the chance to teach them better. Another advantage stemmed from the fact that males were easily distracted by visual stimulus, and her curvy body in connection with her fighting gear provided such. Even if she was officially no longer a practitioner of the Anything Goes—although her being A) officially dead and B) her own style being a unique style of its own couldn't make her care less—she used what she'd been taught. Use every opportunity to your advantage. And boy would her outfit go a long way in that.

She had created the perfect warrior persona by working together with Sym, and it was a consequent advancement of her plan to become an 'Ice queen', unphased and untouched by anything. As she was now she was all that and more, a tough, no-nonsense femme fatale. She would assuredly catch male attention, but those that tried anything would soon learn that her skills could back up her attitude. It was a mask she would wear for the duration of the tournament, until her 'mission objective', as Sym had called it, was complete. Then there was just the little matter of getting revenge and clearing her name to make her happiness complete, and the tournament was a step in that direction, one of many. And it allowed for good ol' ass-kicking, which was always good in her book.

Ranma looked herself up and down and found that she was dressed for the occassion. Sym's senses provided her with an image of her backside, and she liked the results. Her revealing clothes gave an excellent view on the tattoo her symbiote had formed on her lower back, a demonical red and black monster that resembled a dragon. The beast originated right from the centre above her bum crack and was standing on its hind legs, vicious claws poised to strike, its gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth ready to tear everything in its path apart, huge, leathery wings spread wide apart in a threatening posture, the creature being an embodiment of how she would deal with her enemies, swift and without mercy.

Ranma had played with the thought of choosing a demonic horse as her tattoo prior to her most recent transformation, but figured it might be a connection to her past too revealing, posing a risk—however miniscule—she was not willing to take. Ranma Saotome aka Ranko Tendo was dead to the world, and she preferred this state of affairs to persist until her name was cleared and her revenge obtained. A dragon, a deadly mythical creature renowned for its power and destructivity was a much more fitting outward representation of her state of mind anyway, and like a dragon she would bring death and destruction to those that had tried to break her, tried to kill her, whoever they were.

The symbiote clad gender changer bottled up her rage and anger before her emotions could spin out of control, simply by thinking of the day she would have cleared her name, the day she would have triumphed over her enemies. A small, sinister smile appeared in the corners of her mouth, but she clamped down on the feeling of anticipation as soon as it had surfaced. She had to focus on the here and now, take one step after the other and keep going until she had reached her goals. Participating in the tournament was such a step, a necessary but at the same time welcome one. Everything else would come eventually.

Pasting a neutral and standoffish expression on her face she then climbed the flight of stairs that led her to a sparsely lit corridor. Said passageway finally guided her towards something that resembled stands in a sports hall, and Ranma let her eyes wander, soaking up every detail, glad that the other attendees sitting in the stands hadn't noticed her arrival. The spacey warehouse did not reveal what it had originally been used for, its current function being to host a large fighting arena set up in the centre of the room, as Ranma had expected. She had seen such a ring many a time before both on her travels with her ex-father and on TV. It was a standard boxing ring surrounded by stands to each side, yet a massive steel cage hung overhead tightened to a massive steel cable, indicating that it could be lowered any time to turn whatever fight into a cage fight.

Ranma focussed her attention on the two combatants that were trying to bash each others faces in, the spectators scattered in the stands egging them on, which explained for the sounds she had heard from the staircase. She scoffed at the poor display of skill presented to her, those two were nothing more than low-level brawlers, all brawn and no brain. No worthy challenge at all. But then again, she hadn't really come here for the challenge—not primarily at least—but to earn a shitload of money.

-.-

Ranma had watched the 'fight' for a few minutes before becoming truly and utterly bored. The guys slugging each other in the ring were amateurs she would have been able to beat at age ten and not worthy of her attention. She had noticed that the stands were largely empty, probably due to the fact that it was still quite early, about 7.45 p.m. The fight was either a training fight or a low class fight—she at least hoped it was the case or she wouldn't have any decent opposition—which meant it was an ideal moment to 'socialise' with the someone who was running the show.

She was quite certain that she had already identified the said someone in question, and he was not looking happy. The man in question was a tall brown haired Caucasian clothed in a pinstripe suit, with broad shoulders and a built that suggested he kept fit, and it was downright funny how he kept yelling at the two 'fighters' in the ring. Ranma deduced from his snide remarks that the 'fight' was indeed a training fight, but why the spectators were egging them on eluded her. Maybe it was because they had placed bets on the fight's outcome anyway, seeing that dumb and dumber were fighting to k.o. each other, but that was anyone's guess. She suppressed her amusement as she descended the flight of stairs that led to the ring and deftly ignored the lewd looks several spectators were shooting her way, not even breaking her smooth stride as she jumped over the side fence, her ponytail billowing behind her. The blonde landed soundlessly on the ground and resumed her stride towards the man, her head held high.

The man seemed to sense that someone was approaching and stopped in his tirade to look over his shoulder and then turned around fully, the intent gaze of his brown eyes roaming her curvy body just a tad bit longer than propriety allowed, his eyes apparently liking what they were seeing. "Are you here to apply for the job?" he asked without preamble as soon as Ranma had come to a stop in front of him.

"Job?" Ranma asked puzzled, a delicate brow raised. "Which job?"

"We need an attractive young woman to announce the next rounds, girl. You'd fit the bill nicely." the man replied with a suave grin.

"Seems you'll have to be on the lookout for a while longer then. I'm not here to play bunny, I am here to fight." Ranma stated arrogantly, hands on her hips.

The man looked at her incredulously and burst out laughing. "You?" he guffawed. "You gotta be kidding!"

"I have no sense of humour I know of." Ranma replied in a matter of fact tone, her face a mask of stone. "If you doubt my seriousness and or qualifications ask that Amazon of a bouncer."

"Amazon of a bouncer? Oh, you mean Hilda. Don't let her hear that," he said with a chuckle as he extracted a walkie-talkie from his trouser pocket, "or she'll eat you for breakfast."

"I don't think she'd be that eager to lay hand on me." Ranma replied with a dark smirk and an evil chuckle. "Not after the way our first meeting went."

The manager made a distracted gesture with his left hand as he worked his walkie-talkie, and Ranma's smirk only grew bigger when she saw the man's eyes widen during the conversation he held with the 'Amazon' named Hilda. "H-Hilda says your qualifications are in order. You sure you're no mutie?"

"I am. My strength stems from training all my life, not an X-gene that would grant me an unfair advantage." Ranma replied with fake-contempt, having gained experience in the bunk what the general public thought of 'muties'. "Besides, would a mutie have bruised her knuckles from punching that fuckin' panel out?" she added, holding up her bloodied fist for inspection.

"Probably not." the man relented. "Okay, you're no mutie then. You're way too beautiful to be one anyway." he added with another suave smile. "So, do you mind a sparring match so I can gauge your abilities?"

"Not at all." Ranma replied arrogantly.

"Good, good. I am Brian Thompson, by the way, and I am in charge of this show as you will have guessed." he said with a winning smile and held out his right hand.

Ranma gave no outward reaction other than taking the man's offered hand and gave it a firm squeeze, all the while keeping her expression coldly neutral. "You can call me Dracona. And I really hope you got bigger challenges than those losers." she sneered, indicating her head over to where the brawlers were still 'battling' it out.

"Dracona, eh? D... DD would be more fitting, though." the man mused with a chuckle, grinning to himself as he gave her bust a side-long glance, which caused Ranma to immerse herself in the soul of ice, her glare speaking volumes of what she thought of the comment.

"As for those two," he gestured towards the 'fighters' in the ring as he continued smoothly, "I'll freely admit that they are not exactly brilliant fighters," he said with a shrug, showing two rows of even and blinding white teeth, "but they'll do for a sparring match."

"If you say so." Ranma snorted derisively, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Jake, Abe!" Thompson called loudly, causing the two brawlers in the ring to cease their attempts at slugging each other to death, "This little bird says she can whoop your asses in under a minute. What do you say? You wanna prove her wrong?" he demanded loudly, the few spectators in the stands listening raptly.

Ranma was amused almost against her will. With the way Thompson had phrased that he had called the 'honour' and male pride of the brawlers named Jake and Abe in question, which was something they'd never take lying down. At the same time it would allow him to learn if she, the 'little bird', was willing to walk the walk or if she'd back down when faced with two angry mountains of muscle. And the tall and broad-shouldered brawlers—both blessed with faces only a mother could love—shared a furious look, as expected.

"Hell yeah!" both snorted at the same time, and the spectators began to mutter amongst themselves as the first bets were placed.

"When I be finished with ya," the blonde brawler to the right growled, "ya won't be havin' wings left, lil birdie." he threatened, showing his uneven and yellow teeth in a nasty grin.

"What Jake said!" the other man—a dark haired mountain of muscle who'd involuntarily identified himself as Abe exclaimed, "We ain't gonna pull our punches, fer no one, birdie! Ya'll be pleadin' us ta stop, but we ain't gonna stop. Not before we be takin' our pay outta ya." he added nastily.

—**_Methinks you should make these sorry excuses for human beings eat their words, Ranma. Painfully. — _** Sym's voice hissed. **_— I would suggest several nice spots that cause excruciating pain, but seeing that you know them as well I suggest you utilise your knowledge. — _**

**'Doncha worry, Sym, they will regret their words. Soon.' **Ranma replied darkly. **'No one threatens to rape me without paying the price. Even if its likely a stupid boast.'**

"ABE!" Thompson had yelled in a threatening voice, "Control yourself or your contract will be terminated! I don't tolerate shit like that! Have I made myself clear?"

"Yeah, yeah, boss." Abe replied dismissively.

"I'm sorry, D. Abe's a bit slow and crude." Thompson said with a shrug. "He doesn't really know how to treat a woman." he added with a lopsided grin.

Ranma ignored the implied message, the dark look that had appeared on her face remaining in place as her head swivelled over to meet Thompson's gaze. "Then I'll indulge him." she replied coldly, her voice a threatening hiss.

The blonde martial artist had already strode towards the ring before Thompson could even blink, and in one smooth jump Ranma was standing in the centre of the ring, cracking her knuckles as the towering mountains of muscle turned to face her, looks of surprise on their faces. Ranma grinned sinisterly and ignored the astounded "Oohs!" and "Aahs!" the surprised spectators had uttered, yet she revelled in the cautious and wary expressions Abe and Jake were now displaying. Her grin turned dark. It wouldn't help them one bit.

"Separately or both at once?" Ranma asked with a savage grin that seemed out of place on her beautiful face, her bold question surprising everyone within earshot.

"Huh?" Abe and Jake asked intelligently, sharing a confused look.

"Do you want to attack me singly," Ranma elucidated slowly so as if speaking to a slow child, "or do you want to attack both at once?"

Abe and Jake shared a grin. "If birdie's so sure she can take us both us gonna take her both, eh?"

"What ya said, Abe! Us is gonna show birdie whose da boss!"

Ranma rolled her eyes as the two idiots advanced on her and switched into a loose stance. She'd have to hold back a lot so as not to frighten off Thompson, or she'd be back at square one. She frowned thoughtfully as she effortlessly dodged and weaved around slow blows from Abe and Jake who were trying to hackle her, but to her they were moving in slow motion, even without Sym enhancing her abilities.

The blonde martial artist stopped a right-handed—and over-extended—punch from Abe, twisted his wrist just hard enough to break it—eliciting a cry of pain in the process—and let her right foot lash out at the same time. Her kick hit Abe's right knee, and Ranma heard the satisfying crunch of a breaking kneecap. The large brawler yelled in pain and would have dropped like a sack of potatoes, but Ranma's hold on his broken wrist prevented such. Her eyes glinted as she detected movement close by, and Ranma used a fraction of her impressive strength to slam the helpless Abe hard into Jake, who'd tried to blindside her. Both men were thrown into the ropes, and Abe went down in a moaning and pained heap, not to get up again.

"That's what happens to rapist scum." Ranma spat darkly. "And be glad I went easy on you."

Jake shot his pal a look and his face reddened as anger and fury took over. The man was far too furious to even consider how easily Ranma had taken Abe out of the fight and came at the young woman like a rampaging bull. Ranma—being tired of dodging—intercepted his incoming right fist with her slender palm, clamped down on the much larger fist in an iron grip and used Jake's own forward momentum to send him into the ropes yet again, from whence he was thrown back at her. He had managed to twist his body around in an attempt to get into a offensive position when he had impacted the elastic ropes, but Ranma had just waited for that. She had already jumped high into the air and met the man's chest with a snap kick that sent him straight into one of the corner poles before he had the chance to blink. The man slid to the ground with a pained expression, and those who'd had a clear view on the impact winced. That had to have hurt.

The dealer of pain whereas was standing in a loose stance in the middle of the ring, a cold and calculating expression on her face. This guy reminded her of Kuno Tatewaki, at least in that regard that he could take a lot of punishment. Granted, the physical differences were glaring, but enough similarities existed for her to want to down him. Which was why she hoped he'd get back up again.

And Jake, being a slow learner, came indeed to his feet—albeit unsteadily— instead of staying down like any intelligent human being would have. The bulk of his muscles had absorbed the impact of Ranma's kick—which she had toned down to a fraction of its strength so as not to kill the brainless twit—and was about to come at Ranma again when he noticed something amiss: the little bird—whose blows stung a lot more than he would have liked—was standing right in front of him!

This realisation was the last his mind came to before immense pain exploded behind his eyes as Ranma's right hook snapped the cartilage of his nose, lifting him off his feet and sending him crashing onto the ground where he came to rest in a moaning heap, clutching his broken nose with both hands in a vain attempt to stem the blood flow. Ranma raised a delicate brow in Thompson's direction before using a fraction of her speed to deliver blows to both men's temples that robbed their—albeit limited—consciousness.

She made it a show to dust herself off, a bored look adorning her features. The blonde turned around and strode towards the ropes, her face gaining a serious quality. "That good enough for ya?" she implored coldly.

Brian Thompson nodded slowly, his eyes wide. "Err, yeah. Actually, I think that might just be the start of a wonderful partnership..."

The blonde allowed an evil smirk to bloom on her face. "As long as you don't try to rip me off it will be..." she agreed, her voice holding a threatening undertone.

"Moi?" Thompson asked, pointing his left thumb at his chest. "Wouldn't dream of it. How about we retire to my office for contract negotiations?"

Ranma nodded. "Sounds good." she replied with a neutral expression, carefully hiding her satisfaction.

The groundwork for raising funds had been made, one goal would soon have been obtained. Soon her other goals would be feasible as well, bringing her closer to her ambition. Revenge. Those that had wronged her would pay, one way or the other with the punishment pertinent to the crime. Each and everyone would receive their just betrayal's reward...

**to be continued**...

**Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. The Q&A section for the last chapter can be found at my yahoo group.**

**Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis and Hawks board for their continued great help. **

As always, comments and constructive crit are welcome and appreciated. Till next.

**A/N**:**I chose an underground tournament for Ranma to raise funds as a tribute to Spider-Man's attempts to do the same in Amazing Fantasy # 15 – the debut issue of Spidey. That, and it was fun to write.**

**On another note, I am still undecided on the issue if I should include the tournament or not. It's pretty obvious that Ranma will breeze right through it and earn the money s/he needs. Which is the exact reason why I had planned to gloss over the tournament. It would take up at least one or two chapters, and is - at least in my opinion - largely superfluous. But I could be wrong…**

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

**Metroidvania, Dragon Man 180, Honebar, MattCauthon1, Dumbledork, Shadow of the Dark, James Axelrad, Mike The Raven, Silverscale, Innortal, K-Dog the Fire Beast, Ecchi-ANBU, Martrex, SSJ Guyver1, Elijah Snow, Ice-Tea-1983, xemnas, zaltran, Evangelion1980, COSTUMES! possom2009, A Curious Stranger, gatodepatasblancas, sadfru, AzureSky123, Shadow Kage, ranger5, RevanLah, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, Chibi-Reaper, borg rabbit, kensa, DAPC, michael68, Virgil, Peter Kim, Paver83, TJG, Xtor49, Lifeleech, c, Shiner, ranma girl 14, Warwolf, (),C. Rose, RDS, Wonderbee31, ranma hibiki, deathgeonous, KaiserPhoenix, Firehedgehog, candyrhl, Amakusa, KazBlah, Happosai-sama, Campin' Carl, Lord Oberon, Materia-Blade, Typhonis, SGT. Baker, Hiryo, Hazard, Anime-Freak317, wolf-in-hell, Bobboky, Sierra-Falls, PhiloWorm, Boudicca Arturia, E-3000, Shishiosama, screaming dean, Stick-Man Smith, Regress35 **


	7. Of Allies

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 7: Of Allies**

Sunlight filtered through the windows and gently basked a large room at 56th and Amsterdam Ave in New York in its golden light, the morning sun's rays seemingly focussing on the room's sole occupant. Said occupant, one gender changing martial artist formerly known as Ranma Saotome, shifted in his sleep and turned his face involuntarily towards the source of light, making him blink his sleepy, blue eyes.

It was around 8 a.m. and Ranma had only called it a night but three hours before, yet the deeply ingrained compulsion to wake up as soon as external stimuli—such as sunlight, in this case—were applied, and that in conjunction with the fact that his symbiote enhanced metabolism didn't require more than three to four hours sleep led to full awareness in under a second. He slowly opened his eyes fully, rolled on his back and adjusted the blanket so as to lie comfortably, relishing in the luxury of being able to wake up whenever he wanted—and at his own pace to boot—instead of being woken by the guards of that hell-hole Ryker's Island, or, as it had been a lifetime ago, by his ex-father or ex-fiancée who'd more often than not woken him using less than desirable means.

Ranma gave a half sigh-half purr as he stretched languorously in his western style futon bed with extra-hard mattress and raked both hands through his blonde hair, a grin appearing on his face as he reflected upon the past three weeks and his achievements during that stretch of time. Today was Friday, March the 10th, 1995, the day succeeding the memorable day he had moved in into his first own flat.

He had bought it after a weekend crammed with househunting, an exhausting weekend for sure, even considering his stamina, but it had well been worth it. The well-sized flat on 56th, adjacent to the De Witt Clinton Park, had been very high on his list seeing that it had met all his requirements—such as price, location, neighbourhood and other, less important details—and the fact that its accoutrements was up to his expectations had been all the incentive he had needed to buy it.

But he was getting ahead of himself, Ranma mused as he remembered last Monday, the successful conclusion of what he'd dubbed as his 'extended househunting weekend'. The dwelling house at 56th and Amsterdam Ave had been the tenth object of interest, an object he'd visited on the late evening of March the 6th, around 6 p.m. A strong, biting wind had blown into his face, and it had made the wind-chill temperature seem much colder than the predicted 32 to 46°F.

In his estimation the temperatures had been around the freezing point, and for once he had been glad that no snow had been falling from the black, night sky seeing that he'd strongly intended to conduct the walkthrough in male form. His reason to chose his male over the female form had stemmed from a tactical contemplation; he had known that the estate agent—or realtor, as they were called in America—was female, which meant he'd likely have an easier time negotiating with her due to his undeniable effect on women. In former times he had scammed vendors out of ice cream using his girl sides' 'talents', why shouldn't it work the other way around, he had mused.

Ranma shifted in his bed to obtain a more comfortable position, remembering with a small smile how he'd appraised the building after his arrival. He had taken a look at a map beforehand to get the general gist of where his potential candidates were located and had known that the flat on 56th was in close proximity to Central Park and several other parks—its proximity to Central Park being an added bonus in his mind—but a short march through Central Park on his way to meet the realtor had given him a much better feeling for the immediate area of the object and its surroundings. This short 'inspection' of the flats' surroundings had only made him want said flat even more.

The on-site view had been even more impressive than the map had suggested as well; situated between two other residential buildings the house in question had caught his eye right away. Clinkered with red bricks it had had a rather rustic air about it, and its appearance had told him that the years had thrown a lot the houses' way, but like him it had stood strong and sturdy; its stubbornness, sturdiness and other character traits Ranma had been able to relate to had made the house instantly likeable to him, and he remembered that he'd hoped the flat in the two uppermost stories would be to his liking. Luckily he hadn't had to wait very long to find out.

The realtor he'd had an appointment with, a middle-aged blonde woman by the name of Debby Kline, had arrived not a minute after Ranma had concluded his survey of the building, wrapped up in a thick white down coat matched by thick, black denim pants, black, lined jackboots and assorted winter attire such as black leather handshoes and a black scarf. Even though she hadn't mentioned it he had been able to tell she'd been pleased by his punctuality, and taking the weather that had virtually bid one to spend the evening in front of a cosy chimney fire into account, her gaiety had been all too understandable.

As soon as the necessary formalities had been out of the way the realtor and he had immediately incepted the walkthrough; not surprisingly they had gotten involved in small-talk whilst the tour of the flat, and the attractive realtor had initiated flirt attempts. Attempts Ranma had gallantly blocked while still remaining charming, and his inherent ability to bedazzle females being strong as ever had been more than enough to make the realtor divulge all the information she had had while making the rebuff seem less so.

The flats' previous owner had moved out quite unexpectedly due to a rather large inheritance he had received, and hadn't even bothered to take his furniture with him. The realtor had smiled and revealed that normally she'd have added a hefty sum on to the purchase price because of the top condition of the consigned furniture, and had then added that she'd make an exception in his case should he decide to buy the flat. He had just nodded and given a small, charming smile at the time, seeing that this piece of information had held the potential to have a positive as well as a negative impact, depending on the actual quality and nature of the bequeathment.

To Ranma's immense surprise the realtor had really not exaggerated where the bequeathment was concerned, for due to the fact that the previous owner had been a successful businessman the interior decoration as well as the consigned furniture had been rather impressive. But what had made the walkthrough really auspicious had been the fact that that the man had had taste that corresponded well with his own.

The whole flat was tiled with creamy white tiles, and due to the forward-looking tastes of the man, underfloor heating had been installed on both levels instead of bulky heaters to, to quote the previous owner, 'not unnecessarily cram the flat and waste valuable space'.

White was the dominating colour in the flat as well, but that had been fine with Ranma; white was a neutral colour, and besides, he couldn't really care less about the colour scheme of his flat as long as it wasn't something really abnormal.

Practicality was paramount, and if nothing else, his predecessor had been a practical thinking man. Ranma's grin only grew as he mentally ticked off the rooms that he was proud to call his, and he remembered the excitement he had felt—which he had been careful to hide from Mrs. Kline—when they had taken the tour.

Like him, the previous owner had had no appreciation for impracticalities like decoration and other knick-knacks—such as pictures and assorted stuff—and this pattern had been the main thread running through the flat; the only exception had been a downright decadent matched set of black leather sofas and armchairs in the living room.

Then there'd been the fact that the place offered so much space it was incredible. Ranma had been hard pressed not to exclaim "Sold!" right after the walkthrough, but his time in the bunk had taught him to control his emotions; foolish, unthinking acts which he'd been prone to were a thing of the past, and thus he'd begun to bargain. In his opinion he'd driven a successful bargain, for he'd beat the realtor down to 250,000 dollars in the end, a result he was very satisfied with.

Said complacency clearly showed on his face as he resumed the mental tour of his flat while relaxing under the blanket, or comforter as the Americans called it. First came the room he was currently occupying, his bedroom. It was a nice, comfy room of about twenty square metres, with the large, western style bed centred in the middle of the room and set up close to the back wall; he had exchanged the previous, smaller bed for a new one of his own selection, having been forced by the local sales-mix to purchase said Western style bed, but the extra-hard mattress alleviated the 'luxury' to some degree and made sleeping in the bed bearable. The bedroom's best feature was without a doubt the armoire, which took up the whole side of one wall. It was held in white, and its special feature was that one could move the doors over the whole length. Practical indeed.

The next room his mind stopped at was the living room, the room one passed by first following the course of the corridor. The gender changer grinned as he considered the sheer size of the room. Fifty square metres! Not that he would ever have wished for or have had the need for so much space, but as the old saying goes, why look a gift horse in the mouth?

The room was large enough to do a kata if he was so inclined, and considering his downright spartanian furniture he might just do so from time to time. The only thing he'd had to change about the living room was that he'd had to replace the matched set of sofas and armchairs the previous owner had left with his own selections; the previous set hadn't been after his taste at all, but all things considered, the amount of money he had had to throw in to furnish the flat according to his wishes had been surprisingly little.

Another jewel the flat had to offer was the office; about ten square metres in size it provided all the space he'd ever need, and furnishing the room had been done in no time. The installation of a T1 line had taken place equally fast, and the ten-thousand-plus dollars he had spent for a top-notch computer plus assorted equipment had been well spent in his opinion. Computers and the developing world wide web were tools he would not underestimate, and if he managed to raise the necessary funds in the near future he would likely invest in stocks pertaining to computer firms. Ranma grinned and shook his head as he redirected his thoughts to his proud possession; buying stock was something for the future.

The remaining rooms such as bathroom, guest bathroom, upper-level bathroom and bedroom were pretty standard and unassuming, except for one little detail that pertained to the upper-level bedroom; said bedroom featured a large skylight, granting a come-and-go-route any spider-powered being could only dream of. Ranma's grin widened a little as he thought about the last room he had to tick off; the kitchen, which was located adjacent to the bedroom. It was a standard American kitchen of about twenty square metres, nothing special really, yet he was proud of it nonetheless seeing that it represented his very first own kitchen.

Needless to say, he loved the American fridges for their sheer size. He had learned cooking during his training trip and his stay in Japan, and he had vowed to himself that he would put those skills to good use whenever he got in the mood.

Oh yes, he thought, folding his hands behind his head as his grin threatened to tear his face apart, he was the very proud owner of his very first flat.

-.-

Ranma, not having anything momentous to do for the time being seeing that his training wasn't due for another two hours, stayed in bed and indulged in the simple luxury of listening to the radio while resuming his reflection on what had happened to him in the last three weeks. Those weeks had been eventful indeed even without buying real estate, he mused with a grin, and unlike in former times, in his former life, these happenings had furthered him; had been advantageous.

The young symbiote-host narrowed his eyes when images of the past crossed his mind. What good were all the 'adventures' he'd experienced in his time in Nerima when they'd never had a truly positive impact on his life? All the fights he'd won, all the challenges he'd overcome, they had been a challenge to his skills and had led to growth, true, but just the growth of his skills, nothing more. Improved his life they had not.

Not so here, Ranma mused, his face relaxing again. The tournament, while not really a challenge, had lasted for two weeks and had—unsurprisingly—ended with his—at the time her—victory. Aside from triumphing over completely outclassed opponents—against whom she had even held back—a lot—so as to make the fights at least somewhat interesting for the spectators—she even had had some fun while obtaining her 'mission objective' to earn a shitload of money. And making money had been easy indeed. After he had won the first few fights in female form he had used his male form to place bets on the outcome of his—rather her—fights, each time increasing the amount of money placed in his bets until the wins had been absolutely staggering.

The gathering of funds had been but the first step though, and this thought led Ranma's memories directly to the completion of his second 'mission objective'. He had done a most thorough research on how to create an ID, something which had become even more pressing due to the fact that he had found out that one had to have a Social Security card in the USA to buy real estate. He grinned to himself. Those libraries were really useful, and having his resident tenant come up with logical suggestions had enabled them to lay the groundwork for acquiring a legal identity for his male form. It had been thanks to this excellent groundwork that Ranma had been able to create his ID a lot earlier than anticipated, but considering their combined abilities success had been unsurprising.

His male form now went by the name of Randall Parker, a twenty-one year old Caucasian that had grown up in the small village Deersville, Ohio, a backwater town in the wilderness before moving to New York to try his luck. His records were exeedingly hard to trace due to the fact that Deersvilles' Hall of Records had been completely destroyed in a fire in 1989, his 'relatives' were all dead, which was exactly how they had planned it.

His female form presented a much harder nut to crack in that regard, and an ID had not yet been created. Sym and he had held long discussions about construing an identity, and had come to an agreement in the end. An agreement that took into account which form would be better suited to pursue a college degree. At first Ranma had been dead set against partaking in any form of education ever again, and had argued that he now had more than enough money to live off comfortably while he went about getting to know New York and finding a job. But the damn know-it-all symbiote had had a damn good come back. He needed to be as clever as possible if he wanted to conduct his revenge, Sym had argued, and if he wanted to get back at the likes of Nabiki and his ex-parents the only way to go about this was to get the best education possible.

Ranma had grudgingly conceded the point, and they had discussed the many problems it raised. It had taken them a long time to come to an agreement pertaining the topic which of his forms would aspire for a university career, but in the end they had come to the decision that it would be easier to do so in female form. The reasons for this were manifold. Hot water was a lot less common than the seemingly ever-present cold water for one, and even the option of Sym closing his pores was but a temporary solution, and a rather imperfect one at that. Then there was the fact that it was much easier for Ranma to turn down boys as a female student that it would be for him to turn down girls as a male student. Sym had dryly remarked that either of his ex-parents must have prayed for a blessing from some God or Goddess of Fertility, but Ranma hadn't seen the fun of it as his symbiote's assessment might just be accurate.

Truth be told, Ranma wasn't really bothered that he'd be a female student, he would still be able to spend more than enough time being male during his forays and at home.

No, what bothered him was the fact that he'd have to come up with a real good background story for his female form. Preferably one that did not link her with his male form. The brother-sister-gig might work where super heroes were concerned, but the less connections existed between his forms the better.

As for the presence of his female side in his flat, well, that wasn't anyone's business, and considering the average attitude exhibited by New Yorkers, no one would think twice about being told off; besides, it was highly unlikely that anyone would care anyway, most inhabitants were businesspeople who were away the better part of the day.

He would also be aided in his task to hide the fact that the blonde young man and the strawberry blond young woman were one and the same by the fact that his two sides didn't look as similar as before; the genetic modifications had done wonders in that regard, and the blue eyes of his girl side looked just different enough so that no one would suspect a thing.

Having sorted his thoughts Ranma stifled a huge yawn before finally getting up, and the young aquatranssexual helped himself to a generous breakfast after having finished his morning routine.

-.-

Half an hour later Ranma was seated in a relaxed position in front of his personal computer, a large pot of coffee sitting right next to his keyboard. In former times he wouldn't have touched the black beverage that contained caffeine en masse, but due to Sym who kept the caffeine from having a negative impact on his system—such as the inurement that usually happened to normal humans over prolonged periods of consummation—he had developed a liking to the black gold. It just tasted too good with milk and sugar.

A dark grin played on his face as he leant back in his leather armchair to take a sip from his freshly brewed coffee, his mind conjuring images of the baffled looks the hated Tendos would wear if they could see his humble abode; the look the loathed middle Tendo daughter would sport should she ever find out he of all people owned a 250,000 dollar flat, knew how to work a PC and had the top-notch model as well as a T1 line at his hands would be particularly amusing. It was just too bad that she'd likely never find out just how much she hadn't known about the 'dumb martial arts jock'.

One of the secrets he'd managed to keep from Nabiki pertained, ironically, computers. He had learned the 'art' of how to work a computer in his days at Furinkan High by accident really, when he had been forced to re-sit computer class after failing spectacularly the first time around. The accident part had been that he had one day arrived in class as a she—due to one water related accident or the other he didn't quite remember—and one of the computer geeks had obviously thought he would have a chance to get into her panties—or rather boxers, at the time—if he impressed her by helping her, the 'airheaded martial artist' who was widely considered a dead loss in everything that pertained to technology.

She had pretended to be ignorant to his goals and had learned with her usual aptitude once she'd realised the usefulness of computers; by the time the end of term had rolled around she'd been—more than—good enough to score a passing grade, but what had been even more satisfying than that had been the face of the twerp when he'd asked her out as 'payment'. For a supposed genius he'd been pretty lame to recognise the rebuff as such.

In fact, he could have achieved much more than just a passing grade seeing that computers and the Internet had started to fascinate him after he'd overcome his conviction that PCs were just a useless congregation of screws and bolts, and even after finishing the course he'd secretly continued to learn everything computer-related with his usual determination; that he'd had to spend his time in computer class being female had been a small price to pay at the time, and it had paid off big time. Keeping his skills a secret from Nabiki had been an unfortunate must, but then, on the other hand, it had been easy. Who would have suspected him of all people to be knowledgeable in the computer sector anyway, seeing that he'd only ever shown the barest minimum of the required skills?

Ranma shook his head and smirked in reminiscence as he started to type away, his intent to find ways to create a believable background for his female form; having a T1 connection was just so neat, he thought to himself as he browsed the net at speeds previously unfathomed. A look of glee appeared on his face as he remembered the lame 28.8k modem the avaricious middle Tendo sister called her own; it was just too bad that an upgrade of her equipment was unlikely seeing that her 'money magnet' and 'cash cow' had 'died', wasn't it?

The ex-Saotome suppressed the gleeful grin that had appeared on his face and pasted a neutral expression on his face as he scan-read through the results the search engines had produced. **'Now there's a reason for optimism.'** Ranma thought sarcastically, his eyes narrowed in disappointment. He was well aware that the search was a tedious task, yet Sym had suggested that it would make setting up an ID for his female form much easier if they could find relatives of his in the USA; the chances for that were admittedly slim, especially considering that neither of his ex-parents had ever mentioned foreign relatives, but it was worth a shot nonetheless.

Ranma remembered that he'd heard the maiden name of his ex-mother once, and a shot in the dark couldn't hurt, could it? It had often been the most improbable seeming choice that had yielded the best results where his life was concerned after all, so better to exhaust all possible options, regardless of how improbable they were. And if worst came to the worst he could still employ the same method he'd used with his male form, pretend she'd grown up with just her father in the wilderness of God knows where and had set out after her father had died.

A look of intense concentration settled on his face as Ranma resumed his search, taking occasional sips from his coffee as he continued his research.

-.-

About two hours later Ranma shut down his computer, pleased with his efforts for the time being. The blonde-haired young man stretched with a content expression playing on his face, rolling back his shoulders several times to work out the kinks that resulted from sitting too long in one position.

He slowly nodded to himself; it had not been much that he had found out, but he now had a starting point, which was at least something. Ranma had diversified his search from the maiden name his ex-mother had once mentioned, Himura. Against all odds, he had actually found Himuras that might be related to him, but due to the fact that they lived in Palm Springs he would put off seeking them out until either after the winter was over or it became absolutely necessary.

Then again, even if the necessity arose it might just be inadvisable to seek out the Himuras—provided they were related—simply due to the fact that it'd create a connection with his ex-mother's former clan and by proxy with his ex-mother. Feelings of deep rooted betrayal and anger aside, he didn't want them to know that he was alive, and he couldn't rule out that word would reach Nodoka that some long lost clan member who bore more than just a slight resemblance with her had turned up. Considering his luck—or lack thereof—it would most surely raise uncomfortable questions; questions he could not afford to answer until his name was cleared. Thus contacting the Himuras posed a risk, and he'd have to carefully plan his further proceeding.

For the time being he would survive with the—absolutely legal—ID he had created for his male side, and the fact that he would not be able to start university didn't bother him much. He would use the Internet, the library, and Sym's help to learn as much as possible pertaining his fields of interest, so when he actually started his studies he would be able to finish them in record time.

Trying to find clues on whoever had framed him would be his main focus until he'd be able to start his studies, the only other concern being to find a source of income. The easy ways were obviously out. He would never become involved in criminal activities, his morals and code of honour forbade it; and despite everything that had happened, he saw himself as one of the good guys. He had been framed, utterly lost faith in the legal systems of the world and had become something akin to an outlaw, true, but he still had his morals and code of honour, even if the latter had been heavily modified.

Yes, looking into—legal—possibilities for super powered beings to earn a quick buck would be a neat idea, Ranma mused to himself. For the near future—say a year or so—he was all set, but he had never been one to rest on his laurels. Maybe he would stumble upon something during his scheduled nightly prowls; a big city like New York had to have many interesting 'super' jobs to offer, and like with everything, it was probably just a question of finding the right contact persons.

-.-

Ranma had continued the day with several kata inside his training room, which the empty room next to the guest bedroom served as. Recently he'd found out a very interesting and delectable piece of information about his symbiote; while Sym augmenting his abilities was the default mode he could will off the overall augmentation his symbiote provided whenever he wanted, which meant he could still improve on his physical condition through training. It could be reduced to a simple equation: raising his base strength equalled greater augmented strength. And due to the fact that his muscles stayed in their optimised state while augmented his training progress couldn't be reversed as long as the bond between host and symbiote existed. A win-win-situation as far as he was concerned.

He'd spent several hours training this way and had admittedly lost himself in his kata until Sym had reminded him around 3 p.m. that the intake of food might be a good idea. His grumbling stomach had readily agreed.

After a self-cooked meal consisting of the rice, stir-fried veggies and pork-sausages he'd bought yesterday in the supermarket around the corner, he'd resumed his Internet research from the forenoon, this time focussing on gathering intel on a certain mercenary he'd 'remembered' from Peter Parker's memories during his training session. Silver Sable. Parker had apparently worked for her on occasion whenever he'd needed the money, and seeing that Sable's company's field of work consisted of the high-cost retrievals of people or objects it ought to have paid nicely.

He 'remembered' that Peter hadn't been too fond of Sable's methods, but then again, if working in tandem with a high calibre mercenary and kicking some bad guy's ass meant big bucks he was game. Nodding to himself, a small grin playing on his face due to the fact that he'd most likely found the 'super' job he'd been looking for—even if a lot earlier than anticipated—Ranma committed the address of Sable's company, Silver Sable International, to memory as well as his route of travel. Although, he thought as he took a look out of the window, that'd likely be her route of travel considering the weather out there.

Giving a wry chuckle that communicated he couldn't care less Ranma walked out of his office, turned off the lights and slowly walked towards the door that led to the upper floor; climbing the spiral staircase he passed by his training room and entered the guest bedroom.

Living by the golden rule of constant vigilance he surveyed the room and ascertained that the curtains were closed; there was no need for any nosy neighbours to find out about his activities, and even though he had no one dear to him who could become a liability, he wasn't fond of his identity becoming common knowledge. Having assured himself that no one could pry, Ranma morphed his casual clothing consisting of a beige cargo pants and a red sleeveless shirt into his combat suit, and once completely covered he shimmered from view, cloaked both by Sym's abilities as well as the Umi.

Seconds later the skylight opened as if by an invisible hand, and Ranma stood on the rooftop moments thereafter, rain softly drizzling down on him. He barely acknowledged or cared about the gender change that washed over him courtesy of the soft rain and only noticed it due to the alterations Sym made to his-now her-unmentionables. The invisible young woman took a few deep breaths of the cool afternoon air and just enjoyed the sights from this unique perspective. Busy New Yorkers wrapped up in thick winter clothes were hurrying down the street below, the height difference making them look like industrious ants.

Ranma sighed as she continued to watch them, her mouth forming an almost smile behind her mask; not too long ago she'd been an ant as well, trapped by her honour, her life and the expectations others had had of her. But she'd been freed, even if the circumstances that had freed her had been less than pleasant. Now that she was free though, no one and nothing would ever take that freedom away from her again, she vowed, balling her hands to fists, her face set into a determined scowl behind her mask.

Having renewed her vow Ranma briefly tensed and catapulted herself off of the rooftop, and moments later a now visible Scarlet Widow swung through the valleys of concrete that were New York's streets.

-.-

Ranma's destination, the Symkarian Embassy located on East 53rd Street, was ironically just a stone's throw away from her flat, which was why she took her sweet time and enjoyed the cool air as it rushed past her facemask. Meeting Silver Sable and the members of her team, the Wild Pack, in female form was the only logical course of action, and hadn't it rained she'd have changed before setting out; cold water accidents were a lot more common than hot water ones simply due to the much greater availability of cold liquids as proven by the rain drizzling down on her, and due to Sym's ability to close her pores at a moments notice, possible hot water accidents were of minor concern. Applying as male would have born the very real chance to change at the most inopportune moments, and keeping the pores closed for the duration of her job application would have been required, a requirement she couldn't have possibly fulfilled. Besides, she wasn't really inclined to outfight a bunch of heavily armed super-powered beings just because they'd made the connection to a certain trial. She wanted to make contacts, becoming hunted was not high on her list.

A loud scream echoing through the alley below startled the redhead rather abruptly out of her musings; said obviously female scream had spoken of abject terror and mortal fear, and Ranma's previously thoughtful face acquired an angry scowl. Using her web line to let herself down into the alley from where the scream had originated and hid herself in her Umi to observe unnoticed.

What she saw made her see red, for not fifty metres away the nightmare of every female was just coming true. Three young men were encircling a brunette woman of indeterminate age—Ranma suspected her to be around her own age, gauging from her looks—and had her backed up against a wall, the largest of them, a masked man clothed in a long, black leather trenchcoat and equally black pants pressing a large knife held in his right hand against the woman's throat while his left hand was groping her right breast. The two men standing to the woman's sides wore masks that left their eyes and mouths free as well and were holding her arms, both grinning lustfully while making sadistic comments as to what they would do to her when it was their turn.

The look of utter horror and revulsion on the victim's face as well as the tears streaming down her face brought back memories of her own experiences in Riker's, and Ranma's blood boiled. Her usage of the Soul of Ice to get the kaleidoscope of emotions raging inside of her under control went unnoticed and the rapists attributed the temperature drop in the vicinity to the winter weather, not giving it a second thought.

Ranma breathed deeply a few times; she couldn't afford to lose control of herself and endanger the victim through being detected prematurely, she'd have to play it cool or they might kill the woman if she made a mistake. Regardless how strong and fast she was, all it took was one single knife cut made either in the heat of the moment or due to sheer malignity; as no guarantee existed that she'd be fast enough to save the woman before harm could befall her she'd have to think up a strategy to distract the men, the leader in particular.

Hidden due to her Umi and Sym's camouflage abilities Ranma observed and analysed the situation, the sufferings of the woman—which were gladly limited to being groped for the time being as part of a twisted 'foreplay'—an unfortunate must while she thought up a strategy. Those dregs couldn't really have chosen a better spot to ambush their victim, Ranma mused. The crime scene happened to be a dark alleyway with no house entrances, help was unlikely to arrive. It was sheer luck that she'd passed by, but sometimes luck was the greatest of assets a person could have.

Having formulated a plan Ranma removed all insignia identifying her as Scarlet Widow from her costume, quickly changed it to a jet-black colour so as to appear completely unassuming and focussed her attention back on the rapists.

What she saw incensed her, and Ranma's eyes flashed in anger behind her mask. The rapists had obviously decided to take their 'prize' while she'd planned her tactics, and the woman had already been stripped down to her undershirt, her beige winter pullover now lying torn and discarded on the ground to her right, the coat she'd worn nowhere in sight.

Suppressing the guilt that welled up in her at having taken too much time planning while the victim had been dying a thousand deaths due to psychological—and to a lesser extent physical—torture Ranma decided to implement her rescue plan, and dropping her Umi she started to walk towards the crime scene with long, distance-eating strides.

**'I'll rip out their spines and beat 'em ta death with 'em!'** Ranma thought seethingly as she watched the apparent leader starting to finger the woman's belt while licking her left earlobe, the unwelcome memories of her own brush with being—almost—raped bubbling to the surface yet again and adding fuel to the fire of her tightly controlled rage. **'Better yet, I'll rip out their testicles and strangle 'em to death!'**

—**_Trash like that has no right to exist, Ranma. I suggest getting creative in bringing about their demise. —_** Sym suggested in her usual bloodthirsty way.

The ex-Saotome didn't give a verbal reply, but her teeth grinding so hard she would have crushed Adamantium was testament to the fact that she readily agreed. The rapists hadn't noticed her approach due to her being virtually soundless and continued to terrorise the woman with the prospect of all the things they'd do to her while their leader had begun to tug on the woman's pants, the protests of the victim having been reduced to helpless whimpering.

Ranma barely managed to keep herself from going instantly medieval on the rapists, yet managed to control her emotions, limiting herself to the 'normal' look she'd worn in the bank. She'd do this according to plan; the rapists should think she was some harmless goody-two-shoes-hero coming to the victims' rescue at first before realising the truth, and she'd enjoy their fear when she turned 'monster' on them.

Being underestimated by the rapists was much safer for the victim and she'd play her role as long as the woman was endangered, but she was really looking forward to the part that featured frightened and cowering rapists. And bleeding rapists, that too.

Covering the last metres that separated her from the rapists, and by forming heels making sure that they could hear her footsteps on the cobbled pavement Ranma struck a nice girl pose that made her internally wince. "Let this woman go or suffer the consequences!" she commanded boldly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Who de fuck dares ta keep me from gettin' me fun?" the leader growled as he turned around to face Ranma, removing the knife's edge from the woman's throat in the process.

"Sum hot chick in a latex costume, boss." one of his goons, a bulky, muscled man half a head taller than Ranma supplied lecherously.

"Can we've our fun with dat birdie too, boss?" the second goon, a nondescript man of average built asked hopefully, a cruel grin playing in the corners of his mouth.

"You won't enjoy my being here, your just desserts are awaiting," Ranma exclaimed while striking another pose, playing her role as the naive heroine to the hilt.

Fully expecting that the leader would send his thugs after her she'd already sent out part of her costume unperceived to the man's position during her speech so as to yank him off his feet and away from the victim once the dance began. "Aww ain't that sweet, da birdie thinks she can threaten us," he exclaimed sarcastically from his changed position about two centimetres behind and three to the right side of the woman, his left hand roaming her bum. "Get da bitch!"

"Oh my!" Ranma exclaimed in an act that convinced those present that she'd lost her nerve, and as the icing on the cake she put her right hand to where her mouth would have been. "What am I gonna do now? They were supposed to run!"

Ranma saw the victim's eyes widen in fright as her hopes were dashed, but the redhead paid it no heed and focussed on the rapists' reactions. The malicious grins she saw suggested her ploy had worked, and Ranma allowed a grin to slip onto her face at seeing that their stances were completely relaxed; they didn't suspect a thing and thought her easy meat, just as planned. Acting her part she slowly back-pedalled as if trying to flee, all the while managing to put out a terrified aura.

"Ya fuckin' bitch shoulda thought 'bout dat before playin' with da boys!" the large thug drawled smugly and began to advance on Ranma, "Me's so gonna enjoy teachin' ya yar place!"

As soon as the man and the other masked thug—both having made crude and crass comments—stormed forward Ranma pulled on the tendrils that had ensnared the leader's boots, effectively yanking him off his feet.

The hard yank threw the surprised leader into the back of one of his advancing men, his knife having fallen to the ground harmlessly during his involuntary flight, and both the bulky thug as well as his boss went tumbling to the ground in a tangled heap of arms and legs.

Ranma watched the pathetic efforts of the men to get back to their feet with a satisfied air. "I just love it when a plan comes together," she commented, a wide, cold grin spreading on her face.

Surprise had shown on the face of the third man, but as soon as he saw that his comrades were just stunned from the unexpected turn of events he whirled around to face the 'birdie', his intent clearly written on his face. "I'll fuck ya, bitch, I'll fuck ya good! 'N' then I'm gonna fuckin' kill ya!" the man promised in a cold and menacing tone.

Ranma sneered behind her facemask as the rapists recovered from the turn of events, all traces of her supposed fear gone. "Not in your lifetime, motherfucker. But I'd hoped ya dregs would put up a fight. Gives me the more fun before I cut your wankers off and feed 'em to the dogs," she exclaimed in a low and dangerous voice that was the polar opposite of the tone she'd used just moments ago, her whole posture screaming 'danger'.

The expression on the rapists' faces turned to pure, unbridled anger, yet said expressions transmuted to undiluted horror in the blink of an eye though when the 'birdie' unexpectedly began to transform into something out of their wildest nightmares right in front of their eyes.

-.-

Having ensured that the thugs and their leader had vacated the immediate vicinity of their victim just as planned Ranma decided to initiate stage two of her plan, the part featuring her going 'monster' on the rapists; her costume changed back to its original design with her monster visage forming within seconds, and her hands turned into ultra-sharp, vicious claws of twenty centimetres length.

This metamorphosis alone had been intimidating as hell, but the process wasn't over, not by a long shot. The men that had seconds ago been so eager to take her down watched in fascinated horror as spikes began to grow out of Ranma's skin, ranging from both shoulders to just above the wrists; the sharp-looking black spikes continued to grow as if in fast forward and soon stopped at a length of round about thirty centimetres, every single one of them looking absolutely deadly.

Tendrils began to shoot out of Ranma's body from seemingly everywhere and started to swirl around her, their razor-sharp tips doing nothing to soothe the men's nerves either, and when she saw the effect she had on the three men Ranma decided to play with their minds just a bit more. Suddenly two pitch-black spikes shot from her knee-caps and elbows each respectively and continued to grow until they had reached about thirty centimetres length, each spike looking decidedly intimidating and lethal.

Ranma rolled her neck first to the right, then to the left, producing twin loud, subsequent and most of all impressive cracks. "Ahh, that's much better," she sighed, chuckling darkly. "Now I'm ready to play," she said, her monstrous grin growing much darker and way more malicious.

The men stood rooted to the spot, and even if they'd possessed enough sense to try and use their victim as ransom—which they didn't—they would have been in for a nasty surprise seeing that Ranma had sent out more than enough of her costume to ensnare all three of them at a moments notice, and when the costume clad redhead took a menacing step forward it was all the rapists could do not to recoil back in fear.

One look at the quivering victim told Ranma that the woman was frightened as well, but there was also a small glimmer of renewed hope shining in her eyes, probably stemming from the fact that she'd made her intention to rescue her very clear. Ranma knew this hope against hope all too well; it was the hope to come out of a nightmare alive due to something too good to be true. She, Ranma, would make it real, first she had some obstacles to remove, though, and it seemed as if at least some of them were regaining their wits.

"Dat's just some fuckin' super hero wannabe trick da slut uses! A flashy effect or sumthin! Let's take da bitch down 'n' we gonna have our way with her as well!" the leader bellowed, anger overriding the surprise he'd felt.

The prospect of having another woman at their mercy overrode the goons' fear, and lust flashed in the men's eyes yet again as they pulled out their knives and guns. The smaller thug who was incidentally standing nearest to the monsterfied Ranma looked over his shoulder at his comrades, excitement flashing in his pale eyes. "De one who takes da bitch down gots ta get first dibs!" he exclaimed and brandished his knife before attacking, his fellow rapists following suit.

"Wrong thing to say, asshole," Ranma growled just loud enough to be heard, and acted faster than the rapists could ever hope to follow.

The attacker hadn't taken two steps when her tendrils had already reached his position a metre away, knocking his knife out of his right hand, the weapon clattering to the ground harmlessly. Another part of her tendrils had impaled themselves through the man's knife-hand at the same time and had cut right through from the back of the hand to the palm; the man stared incredulous and uncomprehending at his hand and the retracting tendrils that had just left three gaping holes in his hand, blood flowing from his wounds in streams, then the pain caught up with him and he began to scream his head off as he craddled his injured right hand to his chest.

His friends were rooted to the spot about three metres away from Ranma's position where they'd stopped their attack after her counterattack, their eyes wide with surprise as the (un)reality of the situation began to trickle into their brains.

Ranma's counterattack had been impressive proof that her weaponry was anything but a trick, but at the latest when her tendrils began to nick, cut and tear into the screaming man the rapists knew with absolute clarity that this was no special effect. The blood soon pooling at the man's feet was in no way an F/X effect, this was bloody reality. Literally.

The other two men lost it at seeing how their comrade collapsed to the ground cradling his right hand even in unconsciousness and drew their guns, both opening fire at nearly the same time. "Die, monster bitch!" the leader yelled as he fired bullet after bullet at Ranma, his goon doing the same while laughing a crazed laugh as he emptied the magazine into Ranma.

The redhead simply held up her right claw and caught the bullets with blurring movements until the men had wasted their ammo, letting the bullets fall to the ground upon opening her claw. The hollow sound of empty gun shells clattering to the ground was the only sound in the alley while the men stared at Ranma in incomprehension, fear beginning to show on their faces.

Creepy white pools shaped in the form of chaotic flames stared back at the shocked eyes of the men, and Ranma's eerie grin only seemed to widen.

"That all you pathetic scum got? How disappointing," she drawled. "Then let me show you what I've got. Boy will you dregs ever like it."

Cackling maniacally Ranma took a second to put the fear of God into the rapists as she morphed her features to look even more frightening. She could have disabled the rapists with ease even without Sym, but her absolute hate of these dregs made her go several steps beyond just disabling them.

"You little shits think that ya're so great ya can take everythin' ya want. Ya think women are nothin' more than meat ta be used as ya please. Wrong, for things have changed and no woman's gonna get harmed on my watch.

"When I'm finished with ya none of ya are gonna use that worthless piece o' meat ya seem ta think with ever again." she promised in a cold voice.

And then she was upon them, and the screaming began.

-.-

Five extremely painful minutes later all three men were laying on the cold, cobbled pavement of the alley in warm pools of their own blood, each of them bleeding rather profusely, the word 'rapist' carved into the foreheads of each now unmasked men.

Ranma stared at the broken and bleeding forms of the men for a few moments, gave a satisfied sound and reverted her combat suit back to its 'normal' status before facing the still terrified and badly shaking woman, who, as Ranma noticed upon closer inspection, was a good five to ten years older than her.

"I'm really sorry you had to see this, ma'am, but I assure you that you needn't be afraid of me. I admit I went a bit overboard, but there're few things I hate more than rapists, and I just had to put this lowlife scum into their place," Ranma said with heart-felt emotion in her voice as she handed the woman her coat which she'd retrieved from the ground; the thick pullover had been a total loss seeing that it had been torn apart by the attackers in their effort to undress her.

The head of the other woman shot up, and disbelief was visible on her tear-stained face. "Y-You too?" she asked tentatively as she took the offered coat, put it on and zipped it up, her eyes never leaving Ranma.

"What?" Ranma asked, friendly but confused.

"I-I could hear i-it from your t-tone. W-Were you r-raped?" the young woman asked haltingly.

Ranma's eyes clouded over behind her facemask, but only for a few seconds. "Very nearly," she finally admitted, her voice only fluctuating minimally. "Some friggin big asshole had me at his mercy and was about to r-rape me, but someone saved me. Ever since then I make sure they get what's coming to them whenever I encounter rapist scum," she concluded fiercely, nodding her head at the broken and bleeding forms of the would-be-rapists.

The woman threw herself forward and a surprised Ranma opened her arms to accommodate the crying woman. "Oh God! I thought they'd kill me for sure! I thought it was all over! Thank you, thank you for saving me!"

Ranma hesitated for only a second. "You're welcome," she replied in a warm tone, her right hand making soothing circling motions on the woman's back.

A minute later the woman drew back, blew her nose in a hanky she'd pulled out of her coat, and after she'd wiped away her tears she slowly regained a hold of herself. "Oh my God!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, her brown eyes widening in surprise. "Y-You're Scarlet Widow!"

The redheaded symbiote-host raised her right brow behind her facemask. "And?"

"Didn't you know? J. Jonah Jameson from the Bugle wrote an article about you. He said you were just another masked menace out to cause chaos and destruction, just like Spider-Man!" the woman exclaimed half angry, half confused, although anger won out in the end. "I can't believe I bought into his drivel without any proof!"

Ranma slowly nodded her head. "So he wrote an article calling me a 'masked menace', did he? That's what I get for saving his worthless hide," she mused to herself. "Anyway—" she interrupted herself in mid-sentence and looked up to identify what had alerted her senses.

Said something or rather someone turned out to be a black-clad woman with platinum-blond hair that reached to the small of her back, and hadn't Ranma been in female form she'd surely have gotten a nosebleed from the way the other woman crouched down on the pavement after landing in the alley, her pose reminiscent of a cat.

The newcomer had to be as tall as her by Ranma's estimation, and the way the black costume hugged her shapely figure shouldn't be legal, the redhead mused as she gave the woman a once over. Her startling green eyes were set in a very attractive face, the small facemask she wore hardly doing anything to conceal her face, the 'fur' adorning her costume as well as the 'claws' her fingertips ended in serving to only strengthen the image of a cat. A very sexy cat at that, the host of Sym decided.

—**_This is the adventurer Felicia Hardy, also known as The Black Cat. She is a former cat burglar and equally former love interest of Peter Parker. Here is what I know about her, Ranma,_** — Sym whispered in Ranma's mind.

The redhead briefly blinked her eyes as the 'download' commenced, and she appraised the fellow martial artist in a new light after she'd assimilated the new information. **'Definitely loads of potential there,' **she mused after giving the Black Cat a thorough—and due to her mask—unobtrusive—anewed once over.

The Black Cat on her part smoothly got out of her crouch and stood with cat-like elegance, taking a look around, her gaze travelling from Ranma to the almost rape victim to the rapists back to Ranma. "What the hell happened here?"

"I happened," Ranma replied flatly, her stance loose and relaxed, hands on her hips.

-.-

"Ooookay," the platinum-blonde woman drawled after gazing at the unconscious and bloody men, "and what reason did you have exactly for beating the crap outta them like that?" she asked, mirroring Ranma as she put her hands on her hips as well.

Ranma moved her arms and crossed them under her breasts, involuntarily emphasising her healthy bust. "In four words, they're fuckin' rapists. Not to sound monosyllabic, but I hate rapists. 'Em bastards got their just desserts as far as I'm concerned," she replied in a tone literally dripping with contempt.

"Rapists, eh?" Felicia Hardy asked with a hard glint in her eyes—which Ranma was surprised to see—as she reevaluated the men lying broken and bleeding on the ground.

"Y-Yeah." the woman Ranma had saved chimed in, looking the platinum blonde woman in the eyes, her hands jammed into the pockets of her coat. "If it weren't for Scarlet Widow they'd have... r-r-raped and killed me f-for sure."

She turned her head back to face Ranma after taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm Susan Hart, attorney-at-law, and regardless what Jameson prints, you're a heroine, Scarlet Widow. I can't thank you enough."

The redhead had turned her head over to Susan Hart during her speech, and despite herself, the emotional words of the woman had touched emotional chords in her she'd thought dead and buried. The heartfelt gratefulness Ms. Hart exuded felt good, she'd to admit. "You're welcome," she finally replied with warmth in her voice that surprised Ranma herself.

"Scum," the black-clad woman exclaimed as she kicked the largest rapist—incidentally the leader—inthe ribs. "The world would be better off without them," she spat in disgust.

"Normally I'd contest this vehemently and say that any human being deserves to live," Susan Hart spoke up, "but after this experience..." she trailed off.

"Perfectly understandable," Ranma said acquiescently; she had noticed the Black Cat walking over to the downed men during her talk with Mrs. Hart but hadn't deemed the action a threat.

"Some of 'em look like they probably won't make it without medical attention. Good. Less dregs to infest the city," the Black Cat commented, her tone satisfied.

"You can say that again," Ranma grunted in answer to the Cat's comment, pleased that the adventurer seemed to share her own sentiments pertaining rapists.

"Nice job in working them over, and very neat idea with the 'branding', Scar," the cat-like woman added appreciatively after she'd concluded her survey, a downright satisfied look on her face. "They'll remember this encounter for a good, long time," she grinned. "If they live," she added.

Ranma raised a brow at the nickname but chose not to comment on it; she'd been called worse things after all. "Thanks. And you are?" she inquired, feigning ignorance about Felicia Hardy's identity.

"I'm the Black Cat, at your service," said Black Cat replied with an exaggerated bow.

The redhead quirked an amused brow behind her mask. "How 'bout we accompany Mrs. Hart here—"

"Susan," the woman interjected with a shaky smile. "Anyone who saves my life has more than earned the right to call me Susan."

"Okay, Susan," Ranma amended with a smile in her voice. "How 'bout we accompany Susan to safety?" she suggested, purposefully including Felicia Hardy seeing that the other woman seemed to want to talk, something her symbiote suggested she should agree to.

"T-That would be nice," Susan replied before the Black Cat could acquiesce to Ranma's suggestion. "I live right through this alley, not a mile southwards. I was on my way back home when they... g-grabbed me. Normally I don't t-take this shortcut, but I was in a hurry today..." she whispered, her voice breaking.

Ranma laid a comforting hand on Susan's shoulder. "They can't do jack to you anymore, Susan," she assured in a soothing and comforting voice.

"T-Thanks," Susan replied in heartfelt gratitude, wiping her eyes. "I'd planned to move away from here for a few months now, ever since my promotion, but work kept on getting in the way. Being single I didn't try very hard, I must admit, but that was the final straw. I'll be outta here faster than a bat out of hell," she vowed.

"You do that, Susan," Ranma said in an understanding tone. "Now how 'bout I get you home? Southwards, right?"

"Y-Yes," Susan replied haltingly.

"Do you trust me, Susan?" Ranma asked seemingly out of the blue, her intent voice capturing the other woman.

"Yes," Susan replied in a firmer voice and nodded several times as if to reassure herself, but her brown eyes conveyed that she did indeed trust her saviour.

The Black Cat, who'd watched the interaction, cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing as she continued to watch what Scarlet Widow had planned. Said host of Sym nodded her head at Susan. "Good. Then I've got a fast way to reach your home for you," she stated.

"Have you ever flown, Susan? Under your own power? No?" she inquired and nodded at seeing Susan's shake of the head. "What I suggest comes very close, and the adrenaline rush from it will wash away your fears. Are you ready for some web-slinging, Susan?" she asked with a smile in her voice.

"W-Webslinging?" Susan stuttered out, her utter surprise easily conveyed by her baffled expression. "Y-You mean... w-what Jameson wrote is true? You do have S-Spider powers?"

Ranma scowled under her facemask. "So Jameson can depict the truth, even if it was likely twisted and used in a derisive way.

"Yes," she said, facing Susan, "I do have Spider powers. That much is true. But regardless of that and what I turn into, I don't eat babies or howl at the moon."

The Black Cat, who'd been surprised to hear that at least part of Jameson's claims about Scarlet Widow seemed to be true, had to hold a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. One look at Susan Hart revealed that the young woman found amusement in this comment as well, seeing that her lips twitched. "And what would you have me do, Widow?"

"Allow yourself to be scooped up into my arms and relax," Ranma replied calmly as she did so. "Now hold on tight," she advised, and the surprised and somewhat apprehensive Susan did so.

"Can you keep up?" Ranma asked then, turning her head to face Felicia Hardy.

"We'll see, won't we?" the Black Cat replied cheekily, a smirk adorning her face.

The redhead gave a curt nod and shot a string of webbing from her right hand, the left holding Susan securely. Then Ranma jumped, and they were off.

-.-

Following an excited Susan's instructions—the young attorney quickly having warmed up to webslinging—Ranma brought the young woman literally to her doorstep, and the almost rape victim had given Ranma the promise that she'd try to exert her influence in an effort to counter Jameson's slandering. Ranma had just nodded and thanked Susan, inwardly being unsure about the woman's chances at success; but having an ally could never hurt.

Speaking of which, the Black Cat, another prospective ally, had been able to keep up with them quite well just using the grapnel line launchers hidden in her sleeves, quite to Ranma's surprise; this fact was yet another instance that had increased the respect Ranma felt for the other martial artist, and the redhead had spontaneously decided to follow Sym's suggestion to talk to Felicia Hardy.

Two minutes after having returned Susan home safe and sound the two women were seated on an adjacent rooftop, shrouded in companionable silence. Rain softly drizzled down on them, but neither martial artist cared as they sat side by side with their feet dangling from the edge of the flat roof, both staring off into space, waiting for the other to begin the conversation.

"Say," Felicia finally said and turned her head to look at Ranma, breaking the silence as her patience gave out, "where did you get your Spider powers? It's not like they're selling them in the supermarket around the corner.

"Okay, bad joke." she amended, holding her hands up and grinning slightly as Ranma tilted her head.

"It was." Ranma readily agreed, her tone flat. "How I got my powers, you ask? I was in the wrong place at the right time. I dunno if I'll ever be able to talk 'bout the details, but it was the day when... when... Heck, how hard can it be to form words?" she chided herself exasperatedly, clearing her throat. "Hadn't it happened then and there I'd have been... I'd have been r-raped and probably killed.

"Me, just another number in a statistic." she muttered and chuckled mirthlessly; a look at the Cat surprised her though, for instead of the expected pity she saw understanding and anger—the latter clearly not directed at her—in Felicia Hardy's eyes.

Ranma didn't know what had made her spill her guts in the first place as if the Black Cat was some agony aunt, but there was something in the Cat's aura that called to her, that spoke of kinship; and the redhead, not knowing that Felicia Hardy was a rape victim herself resumed her catharsis. "That's where my hate for rapists comes from. That's why I stomp them like the revolting bugs they are. And that's why I don't feel a tiny bit of remorse for what I did to those fuckers that attacked Susan. I don't care if they live or die, chance will decide their fate. That is if you—"

"I won't call the cops," Felicia interrupted, her tone hard. "There's no love lost between scum like that and me," she spat venomously. "He was my boyfriend," she added a few moments later in a non sequitur.

"Sorry?" Ranma queried, her head still tilted to look at Felicia from when she'd gazed at the other woman in surprise.

"The guy who raped me. He was my boyfriend," Felicia elaborated, face and tone hard and hateful, and this time it was Ranma's turn to emanate a feeling of understanding and anger. "Ryan. It happened in my freshman year in college. I was so naive. Ryan had asked me out on a date, and I couldn't have been happier. He was tall, handsome, athletic, had nice hair, clear skin, the works.

"My friends envied me, and I was literally on cloud nine, but my elation and smugness didn't last long. Turns out that Ryan didn't want to wait to score, and the bag of shit set me up. He date-raped me, and I've never felt as ashamed and unclean in my life as after that horror trip. But I turned my shame into anger and threw myself into training to get my revenge."

"I hope that bastard burns in hell," Ranma growled hatefully, her fingers involuntarily morphing into deadly, long, curved claws.

Felicia laughed bitterly and stared into the black evening sky. "Probably, but not by my hands. But I'll get to that.

"I trained for months in various fighting styles and acrobatics," she continued and turned her head to look at Ranma after taking a calming breath, "raised my strength, endurance, stamina and so on. Feeling prepared I set out to obtain my revenge, but what did the irresponsible idiot do? He got himself killed in a drunk driving accident before I could lay a finger on him! Can you believe that? The fucking wanker denied me my revenge!" she cried, exasperated.

"Actually, I can believe it. Easily. My life's even more screwed up than that, so much so that you wouldn't believe it. If I should ever decide to write a book about it I could probably sell it as a fiction novel," Ranma replied, chuckling wryly; the redhead carefully ignored the curious look Felicia was giving her and carried on. "So, what happened afterwards?" she queried in genuine interest, now understanding the kinship she'd felt, seeing as Felicia and she had lived through comparable events.

"My life took a nosedive. I became a cat burglar, following in the footsteps of my father, and lost myself in ever more risqué ventures to obtain wealth, not for money's sake, but for the challenges the thefts presented. I was good, yes, but hadn't it been for Spider-Man I don't know what I would be. He helped me out when I needed it, and for that I'll always be thankful," Felicia said softly, a far away look on her face.

"He seems to have a way of doing that," Ranma replied with a feint hint of amusement in her voice. "Yes," the redhead added at seeing Felicia's curious expression, "we've met. Funny thing is, he decked me 'cause I wanted to slice Doc Ock into tiny little strips. Said something to the effect that even someone like the tentacled menace deserves to live," she shrugged.

Felicia chuckled, her gaze unfocussing for a moment. "Yeah, that's something he'd do. His morals are incredibly strong, but I think they're often misplaced," she mused, her teeth showing in the darkness as she gave a little smile. "He'd probably say something to the effect 'We can't kill the bad guys, that'd make us as bad as them.' or something."

Ranma smiled behind her facemask, a little chuckle escaping her conveying her amusement. "Probably. He simply doesn't see that treating someone as they deserve does not make us as bad as them. It's all semantics anyway.

"The way I see it, some people can only be stopped by ending their existence; otherwise they'll just keep on trying and come back stronger and more dangerous each time. Spidey may be willing to give baddies a chance to reform, but I'm not willing to take the risk that a baddie offs me 'cause I spared him or her, and I'll never trust therein that he or she reforms. If they attack me with intent to kill they're toast or sliced meat, depending on my mood."

Felicia whistled lowly. "Interesting philosophy. I can see your point, and when in doubt I'll probably follow the same logic. Guess that doesn't make us heroes exactly, eh?"

"I never said I was a hero. I just do what needs to be done, and God or whichever higher being they believe in help those who stand in my way when I do it," Ranma replied in a cold and calm voice that communicated her utter seriousness.

Felicia tilted her head fully to look at Ranma. "Try to leave Spidey intact, Scar," she said only half-jokingly. "He means well."

"I know he does. But, his ethics are why we'll inevitably clash again," Ranma retorted, half amused. "I won't damage him too much, well, not more than my big bro has as payback for decking me. And my bro's stronger than me," she added with a grin in her voice.

"Considering what she did to the dregs I'd say MJ will have her hands full if her bro's only half as vicious," Felicia muttered to herself so silent she was sure not to be overheard.

"That she will," Ranma agreed with a chuckle, changing her sitting position to Indian style.

Felicia's eyes shot open in surprise, both at having been overheard and the implications of Ranma's comment. "You... You know M... Her?" she queried incredulously, just stopping herself from blurting out too much in case Ranma had been fishing for information.

"MJ? Not personally. But I know who she has to tend to," Ranma said with amusement in her voice.

"You... You really know?" Felicia asked, completely flabbergasted.

"Yeah. But maybe we should relocate this to safer grounds so that no one can eavesdrop on us. I know it's unlikely, but call me paranoid," Ranma replied with a shrug.

Felicia pondered for a moment if the fellow crime-fighter was putting her on, but what did she have to lose by accompanying the other woman? It was unlikely that she was out to off her, or she'd already have done so; and considering her superior abilities she'd likely have succeeded.

Giving a shrug Felicia nodded, a neutral expression adorning her face. "What did you have in mind, Scar?"

"How about a little web-slinging?" Ranma suggested as she got to her feet, the mirth in her voice too obvious.

Felicia gave a cat-like grin as she mirrored Ranma's action. "Have yet to swing with a female Spider. Who knows, maybe I'll like it," she teased.

"Maybe you will," Ranma replied calmly and crossed her arms under her breasts, not rising to the bait. "You ready?" she queried.

The Black Cat nodded, a playful smirk playing on her face. "Come, come and get me!" she teased, her eyes laughing as she thought**'I never would've thought that someone could be so like me. She'd make a good friend, and I sure hope her bro's cute, but let's see if she passes the tease test first.'**

Ranma shook her head at the Cat's antics, half in mirth, half in exasperation as she hung to her own thoughts. **'She's a feisty one, but I must admit that I like her. I wonder though if it's only due to the similar experiences we've had.'**

—_**That you will only find out by interacting with Felicia Hardy, Ranma. My observations of human beings and their interactions up till now suggest that they need a sense of belonging. Felicia Hardy seems to be seeking this kind of belonging as well, gauging from her history and the behaviour she has exhibited.**_

— **_It is my duty as your symbiote to maintain an optimal status of both mental and physical health, and continuing to indulge in socialising with her will benefit your mental status which will in turn positively affect your physical status. Continued interaction is thus not just logical but highly recommended, —_** Sym advised.

**'Gotcha, Sym. Maybe it _is_ a good idea to spend some time with her. She can decide for herself if she likes me or not, but regardless if she does or doesn't, I have nothing to lose and maybe a friendship to gain. Especially seeing that she doesn't seem to mind my methods of dealing with assholes that seems a possibility,'** Ranma mused in a thoughtful mental tone.

— _**You will find that my assessment is correct, Ranma. You two have enough common ground to serve as a starting base for a friendship; but I have to remind you, be on your best behaviour. She is not at all like the female prisoners at Ryker's. — **_

**'Got the message loud and clear Sym, but I'd already kinda noticed myself.'** Ranma replied wryly.

"You finished listening to the voices in your head, Scar?" an amused voice queried to her right, startling Ranma out of her mental Tête-à-tête.

Ranma turned her head to Felicia, noticing that the Black Cat looked decidedly amused. "Yeah. They suggested I take you up to the Rockefeller Center, seeing that the view's so great from up there. The Big Apple by night is a nice sight, I've been told."

That said Ranma winked out of existence and appeared behind a surprised Felicia, and before the other woman knew it she had already been scooped up in Ranma's arms. "Now that I've got you promise me to be a good little Cat and hold on tight," the masked redhead advised cheekily.

Felicia, having experience with Spider-powered beings, immediately did as suggested and slung both arms around the redhead's neck. **'She passed, I'd say,' **the Black Cat mused with an internal grin. **'And gauging from the way her muscles move I'd say she's in excellent form, Spider powers or not. Oh yes,'** she thought giddily,**'painting the town red with her should be much more fun than with Pete. He always was too much of a boyscout anyway.'**

Felicia was startled out of her thoughts by the sudden rush of wind that passed her face, and the surprise quickly changed to amusement. **'She must've shot her webbing while I was hanging to my thoughts. Bet she did that on purpose, the sly lil thing. Gotta give it to her, she's at least as good as Pete,'** she thought, having observed and evaluated Ranma's webslinging style, **'Whoa! If not even better!'** she added, impressed after an impressive double somersault that spoke of high skill.

Ranma, who'd felt a bit reckless and had gotten carried away by the spur of the moment grinned underneath her facemask. Gauging from Felicia's facial expression the fellow crime fighter seemed to have enjoyed it.**'Good,'** the redhead mused to herself. **'That makes two of us. Maybe, just maybe, Sym's suggestion has merit after all.' **

-.-

A short while later Ranma and Felicia had reached yet another rooftop, this being the rooftop of the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Ranma had read on the Internet about the slim, gothic-inspired Art Deco skyscraper, it being depicted as the focal point of the famed Rockefeller Center. The GE Building stood 259 m tall, and it being the 7th tallest building in New York City and the 30th tallest in the United States gave one a damn good view. This particular rooftop being unlikely higher up than the previous it met the prerequisite of making it nigh impossible to eavesdrop in on them easily.

As like before, the two crime-fighters were sitting side by side, but unlike before it was Ranma who initiated the conversation. "Fire away," she simply said without looking at Felicia Hardy, her gaze fixing the black evening sky.

Felicia turned her head to look at the other woman, a look of curiosity playing on her face. "Who is this MJ we were talking about? No offence, but I have to make sure that you're not just fishing for information."

"None taken," Ranma replied evenly, swivelling her head to look at the other woman. "MJ, or rather Mary Jane Watson-Parker is the wife of Peter Parker, Spider-Man," she calmly stated.

"Fuck," Felicia eloquently swore. "So you really know."

"Yep," Ranma confirmed. "Peter Benjamin Parker, born as the son of Richard and Mary Parker. Both were killed under mysterious circumstances, and Peter grew up with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker in the Forest Hills neighbourhood of Queens. He grew up to be a brilliant, yet geeky student. Got bitten by a radioactive spider from which he derived his powers. Became known as the hero Spider-Man."

"What do you plan to do with this knowledge?" Felicia asked, a hint of worry barely detectable in her otherwise calm and composed voice.

"Nothing," Ranma replied simply. "As cliché as it may sound, he's one of the good guys and one of the few I respect. I won't divulge his secrets to anyone."

"Just respect?" Felicia queried teasingly.

"For one," Ranma raised her right thumb, "he's married. And second," the index finger followed, "I'm not interested in a relationship with anyone, be it male or female. Being almost raped offed my desire to partake in a relationship pretty thoroughly. So yes, just respect," the redhead concluded flatly.

"Gotcha, Scar." Felicia assured, her tone of voice communicating that she'd indeed understood. "So," she continued in a much brighter tone, "what are your plans aside from kicking rapist ass?"

"My plans for tonight provided for a visit to Silver Sable International. I need some bucks and sought to earn 'em by offering my skills," Ranma replied evenly and got back to her feet.

"Lovely. Mind if I tag along? I could use the action," Felicia said with a catty grin as she got gracefully to her feet.

"Sure. The voices in my head said I should socialise more, and I guess that counts," Ranma commented dryly.

Felicia arched an eyebrow and gazed at Ranma for several moments, pondering if she'd been serious or not, finally shaking her head and deciding on the latter. "Good," she exclaimed cheerily. "I'm ready for another bout of webslinging!"

"Someone sure seems to like swinging with a female Spider," Ranma teased, amused, turning the tables on Felicia from her earlier comment.

"Why should I not? You're talented, that makes it worthwhile," Felicia teased back, laughter in her voice.

Ranma shook her head in mirth. "I suppose I can live with that. But enough talk now, I still want to kick some ass today," she exclaimed, cracking her knuckles in a way reminiscent of old times.

"Then lets," the Black Cat agreed.

Ranma gave no verbal reply and simply scooped up Felicia, and seconds later Scarlet Widow and her 'passenger' were on their way.

**to be continued**

Some quick notes:

– I followed the advice of the majority – and my own original assessment – and glossed over the tourney. I was glad to see that the vast majority agreed with me, and I thank you for the additional suggestions, guys. I'll make good use of them.

– a lot of groundwork being laid here. Felicia's introduction, Ranma starting to get a reputation as a merciless vigilante, the beginnings of Ranma getting a life in NY as well as the beginnings of his/her revenge (starting with research).

– both my betas suggested – independently, I might add – to cut down on the scene describing Ranma's house. I must admit that my time was cut so short that I didn't manage to apply the changes I intended to; that, and I just wanted to get the chapter out after keeping you guys on tenterhooks for so long. The changes will likely be applied in a revision.

– Ranma's name: Ranma's new name Randall – and the much preferred nick 'Ran' – is pronounced with an 'eh' rather than an 'ah'. It's a little something Ranma hasn't realised when he made his choice, and will be the cause for some good lil fun. Eh, to be honest, I didn't realise this either until Johnny pointed it out to me. :)

– Ranma's 'hometown': I chose Deersville, OH at random, and the Hall of Records burning down is pure fiction, as far as I know. If anyone knows of an alternative to Deersville that's more believable let me know.

– not that much happening on the action front aside from the lil 'fight scene', I'm afraid. More to come next chapter.

– for those interested, more of my comments can be found at my group.

Thank you for reading.

**Thanks to my prereaders JohnnyG and Ord!**

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

Dumbledork, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, James Axelrad, RevanLah, Ecchi-ANBU, sadfru, goku90504, C. Rose, mystery person, Peter Kim, Tuisto, Bob, sandcrawlr, Metroidvania, Dragon Man 180, DarkRubberNeck, K-Dog the Fire Beast, Metallix6, (), Innortal, DarkHeart of Ice, ranko lina Inverse, borg rabbit, Cloud1239999, Jesse, Ice-Tea-1983, Wonderbee31, ivan the terrable, Drifter950, Ranshin, SGT. Baker, wellin, Dobe-Teme, Upgrade, hnsolo77, Boudicca Aturia, Hmr, AshK, Silverscale, Martrex, Bobboky, PhiloWorm, Paver83, ranma hibiki, JohnnyG, Jago Li Son Shiranui, GJWKtfg, Hiryo, Paul, Regress13, Lord Oberon, Anon, Blackmamuth, Maric, DCWestby, E-3000, Chaosfighter, notBald, Shadowbndg, UPDATE NOW, big daddy cool

Changes in v. 1.1: changed the name of Ranma's male side from Randall Mallory to Randall Parker and made them distant cousins. That should make it a lot easier for Ranma to get used to his new surname.


	8. Making an impression

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 8: Making an impression**

Felicia Hardy felt elated, and her green eyes literally sparkled with excitement in the inky black night. A smirk played on her beautiful face as the silver-haired woman readjusted her position in Scarlet Widow's arms during a moment of relative security in between the cycles the other crime-fighter shot her webbing. The wind rushed past her face as they swung through the valleys of concrete that were New York's streets, and she had to admit that she'd missed moving about using this mode of travel. Just using her grapnel line launchers didn't compare, could never compare to this feeling, this thrill, and she wished not for the first time to be able to swing like this under her own power. The feeling of freedom it gave, the opportunity to leave all of one's worries behind even if only for a few, precious moments was invaluable.

In a way she envied Scarlet Widow for her powers and abilities, but then again, the other woman seemed to have paid a high price for these powers. To nearly be raped and killed and to receive ones' super powers due to this life-or-death-situation had to have been awful, and she didn't doubt the spider-powered woman's tale one second. The experiences she'd described had been underlaid with genuine emotion—Felicia thought herself a good enough judge of character to know that the emotions displayed by Scar hadn't been fake—and this was one of the reasons why it had clicked between them. Felicia knew in her heart of hearts that they could become good friends, not just because of the similar past experiences they had made, but _also _because of the said experiences they had lived through.

And if the big bro Scar had mentioned was half as fit and healthy and probably good-looking as Scar herself, as well as moderately normal character-wise, she might just make a good catch. God knew her previous luck with boyfriends was not worth mentioning, which meant now she was due.

A slow grin spread on Felicia's face, and the Black Cat mentally sharpened her claws.

-.-

Ranma felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine and briefly shuddered as she suppressed a violent sneeze before executing a daring double somersault to shake off the feeling prior to firing her webbing. **'Odd, someone must be thinking about me, and from that feeling it must be some truly nefarious plan. I better watch my back,' **she thought, her face scrunched up in a frown behind her mask.

— _**Ranma,**_ — Sym spoke up, interrupting her bout of—incidentally well-founded—paranoia, — _**I am detecting an unusually strong ki-signature about a mile ahead of us, south to south-west. It complies to one-hundred percent with the ki-signature of the one called 'Happosai'.**_—

Ranma drew in a sharp breath, nearly forgetting to shoot her webbing. Felicia noticed the—albeit miniscule—lapse and looked up into Ranma's masked face, curiosity glinting in her green eyes. "Something the matter, Scar?"

The symbiote-host didn't look at Felicia, seeing that she had to focus the majority of her concentration on the change of direction she was just executing. "Dunno. I thought I sensed something, and I'd like to investigate. I know it ain't nice, but would you mind me dropping you off here at the corner?

"Things will likely get hot," she excused with a shrug and managed to sound apologetic, "and I can't fight optimally while carrying you. If I drop you off here 'n' now I have at least a chance to catch the guy."

"You're right," Felicia groused in reply, her eyes narrowed, "I don't like missing out on the action. But at least you didn't say that you don't wanna endanger me. Do it. But don't forget to pick me up later," she admonished.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Ranma replied dryly with a small grin playing on her masked face and directed their descent towards the sidewalk, making contact a few seconds later.

Ranma released Felicia from the fireman's carry she'd switched the other woman to, completely ignoring the curious looks the few pedestrians that were out and about at this late hour were giving them, gave the Black Cat a nod and a wave and catapulted herself upward, using a light post as springboard prior to shooting her webbing.

Felicia shook her head and smiled in amusement as she watched the fellow crime-fighter disappear round the corner of 52nd and Seventh, amused because she was well used to this kind of behaviour from another spider-powered being. "As far as I know they're not related, so it's gotta be something that runs in spider-powered beings," she muttered, amused. "Yep, would explain some things."

That said Felicia turned on her heel and strode over to the closest coffee bar. What self-respecting cat spent more than the barest minimum of time out in the rain?

-.-

While Felicia Hardy ordered a warming caffè latte Ranma was homing in on her target, all senses focused to their maximum. If Sym was right and the owner of the ki-signature she'd detected was indeed the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes it would present a great opportunity to gain some premature and altogether unexpected revenge. As of yet she wasn't too sure how to go about her revenge against the Nerimans that had betrayed her, thus allowing Happosai to rain down a holy hell of terror on her former family was the next best thing.

Ranma grinned maliciously as she remembered just how devious and mean the tiny pervert could get if he felt like it. The Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion came to mind unbidden, and the redhead suppressed a shudder. She sure as hell wouldn't forget that torture as long as she lived, but everything Happosai would dish out would be well-deserved.

Her former fam-, no, _they_, she corrected herself, had made their bed, now they'd have to lie in it, she thought darkly and changed her costume to a pitch-black colour to make it harder for Happosai to see her in the darkness, the outfit equivalent to what she'd worn prior to the confrontation with the rapists.

The redhead grinned involuntarily when she heard the unmistakable trademark exclamation "SWEETO!", albeit shouted in English rather than Japanese, and Ranma's amusement only grew when she realised that she'd probably save one or more women from being 'liberated', just like in old times.

**'Ah, there he is,'** Ranma thought as she swung into the Broadway, catching sight of a black blur that sped along the sidewalk in a zigzag course, eliciting embarrassed screams and squeaks from 'liberated' females, **'and it really is the old perv. Wonder why he stayed.**

**'Ah well, he can tell me himself in a few,'** she mused as she descended upon him soundlessly, snatching him in mid-motion to swing upward in a high arc before shooting her webbing.

Happosai for his part was confused for a moment, which was understandable considering that he had his favourite pastime interrupted out of the blue, but his confusion gave way to giddiness as his huge eyes caught sight of two firm, round globes on the shapely body of his obviously female captor. "SWEE-"

The old pervert had hardly exclaimed this single syllable when he suddenly felt his hands being intercepted in mid-move by something he could not define, and his surprise changed to irritation when he realised that he couldn't free himself from whatever had ensnared him. What threw him really for a loop were the next words of his captor, though.

"I don't feel like being glomped, Happi, not now, not in the past, not ever," Ranma commented with the hint of a smile in her voice.

"Y-You know me? How?" a completely befuddled Happosai queried in perfect English, ceasing his unsuccessful attempts to free himself.

Ranma shot her webbing and swung towards the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which she knew was safe from eavesdroppers. And considering the late hour nobody would be able to see her when she unmasked to prove her identity to Happosai. "Not here. I don't fancy letting the entirety of New York in on my secrets," she said while holding the old pervert securely, as in securely away from her breasts. "Oh, and Happi? Flies," she added with an audible smirk to her voice.

The still baffled Grandmaster of the Anything Goes nodded dumbly and closed his mouth with an audible click, his mind so busy with trying to figure out how this apparent super-heroine could know his identity that he didn't even think to resume his attempts to free himself. The pragmatic part of his mind had long since realised that his chances of getting away were slim at best anyway; he would survive a fall from this height, no doubt about that, but it would put a dent so large into his reserves that a successful escape was nigh impossible.

Ranma on her part was pleased that she'd thrown the old pervert for a loop, and the redhead freely admitted—if only in her own mind—that it was good to see the old lech again. He was one of the few that had believed in her innocence after all, and she'd to have erred greatly in her judgement if Happosai wouldn't be happy to see her alive. **'Even if only 'cause that means his favourite glomping object is still around,' **she mused wryly, a small smile playing on her face.

-.-

The two most talented practitioners of the Anything Goes ever spent the rest of the high-speed trip to the top of the GE Building in companionable silence, and as soon as Ranma's feet touched the rooftop of the tall building she retracted the tendrils that previously bound Happosai, allowing the ancient pervert to jump to his feet.

Happosai rubbed his wrists a few times to reinstate optimal blood flow while looking his captor up and down, his facial expression betraying that he liked what he saw.

"Done yet with your not so subtle survey, Happi?" Ranma queried, amused and crossed her arms under her breasts, which did oh so interesting things to this particular part of her anatomy. The old lech had to hastily reach up to his nose to stem a sudden blood flow.

Ranma grinned behind her face mask, her amusement stemming from the fact of finally being able to tease the old pervert without having to fear repercussions. If he so much as tried to jump her she'd grind him into paste, regardless if he went all out, pulled out all the stops, or turned into Godzilla for all she cared. She shook her head in bemusement, let her arms fall to her sides and cleared her throat, effectively rousing Happosai from his drooling spell. "I've waited a long time to do that to you without havin' to fear bein' glomped, but now that I've had my fun we should get down to business," she said, her tone now completely serious.

Happosai nodded his assent after a brief moment of necessary self-gathering, his eyes and face now completely serious as well. "That we should, young lady. So, how is it that you know my name? More importantly, how is it you know about my habits?" he queried with narrowing eyes, placing his hands on his hips. "No one should know anything about me around here, yet I have the feeling you know more about me than just my name. And my intuition is seldom wrong."

Ranma chuckled and let her face mask fade away, giving the ancient pervert a clear view of her face. Happosai conjured a ball of blue ki in his right hand and held it up, thus illuminating the redhead's face. After long moments of intent studying he shook his head. "I can't say I've ever seen you before, pretty lady. So how do you know me?"

"Bear with me for a moment, old lech. What I'll do now will seem weird, very weird, and I ask you to not disrupt my concentration. Also, I need your honour promise as the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes to not reveal anything you will learn in the next few minutes. This is very important," Ranma stressed, her intent gaze piercing him, "and you will understand why soon enough."

"How do you know about the Anything Goes?" Happosai demanded with fire shining in his eyes. "No pretty American super-hero chick should have even an inkling!"

Ranma chuckled, her face clearly showing her amusement. "You'll get the answer to this and many other questions if you make the promise I asked of you," she replied slyly. "Deal?"

Happosai weighed his options for a few moments, then he nodded solemnly. "Deal."

"Ah, ah," Ranma tut-tutted, shaking her head. "I want that promise in full wording. For all I know you could claim you'd agreed to something completely different," she retorted, her expression completely neutral.

"Beautiful and intelligent. I like that in a woman," Happosai mused appreciatively. Ranma just kept a stoic expression, giving no outward reaction to the comment. "I, Happosai, current Grandmaster of the Anything Goes, promise to not reveal to anyone what I will learn in the next minutes," he proclaimed, going so far as to place his right hand over his heart in what Ranma was sure was a mocking gesture.

The redhead didn't care, though. With Sym's help she'd always be able to hold Happi to his vow, not that it would ever be necessary, she mused. "Good," Ranma replied curtly, before turning her focus inward. **'Sym, change me back to my Asian form, please,' **she added mentally.

— _**If you are sure that is necessary, Ranma. But I admit I do not see a less painful alternative either, **_— the symbiote replied, something akin to an apology reverberating in her voice.

**'Don't worry 'bout me, Sym. Remember, I've got a 'stupidly high tolerance for pain'. I'll live,'** Ranma retorted wryly.

— _**Indeed. You would be far too troublesome for Death to claim anyway, **_— Sym replied teasingly and implemented the genetic shift before Ranma could retort.

The redhead was immediately assaulted by a white hot surge of pain that coursed through her whole being like a tidal wave, and like before it took everything she had not to scream her pain to the heavens, her hands balled into tight fists as she endured the pain. Happosai's eyes widened in surprise for a few seconds at seeing Ranma's facial features beginning to change before he schooled his features into impassivity, only his narrowed eyes betraying his immense interest. Under his watchful gaze Ranma slowly transformed from a pure Caucasian woman into a woman of undeniably Asian heritage, her now vivid, red long hair flowing freely in the evening breeze.

The changed young crime-fighter took a few deep breaths to overcome the remnants of pain, grimaced and rolled her neck a few times to work out the kinks. "Damn, now that feels strange," she commented, flexing her hands a few times to get a feel for her changed body. Her left hand unconsciously went up to her voice-box as soon as she'd spoken, her voice once more resembling the way it had been before her maturing.

For a few seconds Happosai didn't say a word, didn't breathe, didn't even register the rain that was literally pouring down on them. Ranma almost thought she'd ended him until his eyes widened to seemingly impossible size, his befuddled expression conveying that he was more baffled than he had been in a long time. "R-Ranma?" he finally managed to breathe out, the wonder and barely concealed hope he was feeling all too apparent in his voice.

Said redhead smiled kindly and twirled out of the silliness of the moment, her smile transforming into a real, genuine grin as she focused her gaze on the fellow Anything Goes practitioner. "The one and only," she replied, shooting him a cocky smirk reminiscent of old times.

Happosai swallowed visibly, then his eyes narrowed and a look of concentration appeared on his face as he scanned Ranma with his senses. "My word," he exclaimed after a full minute of probing, "your ki-signature has changed to some degree and hoh-boy have you filled out," his giddy expression turned lecherous for a few moments until he noticed the icy glare Ranma shot him which sobered him up pretty quick, "but you seem to be the real deal.

"There's only one way to be certain, though," the old grandmaster exclaimed, his face acquiring a serious look that put Ranma instantly on guard.

The redhead hadn't raised her defences one moment too early seeing that a fierce kick was blocked by her right forearm, her left leg lashing out to block the ridiculously fast axe-kick that followed-up. A glint of respect appeared in the old man's eyes as he somersaulted backwards, his own guard fully raised as he seized the gender-changer up. Ranma, having realised that Happosai's seemingly unprovoked attacks were a test to prove that she was indeed Ranma and not an impostor, smiled. "I've missed fighting competent opponents, jiji," she said with a smirk and blurred from existence, making sure to use speed just marginally above her previous maximum.

Predictably Happosai blocked the right-handed chop to the neck—which had been a lot stronger and faster than expected—and retaliated, only to have his punch to the ribs blocked in turn, and an objective observer would have perceived the satisfied look on both combatants' faces as they strived in the spar. Anything the Anything Goes had to offer was utilised and taken to levels not seen in ages within the next minutes, the combatants evenly matched at all times; if Happosai upped the ante Ranma would follow suit and vice versa, it having the effect of turning the spar into an immensely high-class clash of skill.

-.-

Happosai was in his element and felt more content than he had in a long time. His doubts that the person he was fighting was indeed Ranma had dissolved like ice in the sunshine after the first few series of blows, and the fact that the redhead could keep up with him so easily even with him going all out and stopping short of throwing Happo dai-karin all over the place astounded him. Ranma's moves were even more graceful, fluid and precise than before, and if he had to hazard a guess he'd say that she was holding back. Just how much even he could not tell.

"He- She moves like a woman, making full use of the altered centre of gravity," Happosai mused, "not at all like that halfling mockery in Nerima. And there's definitely something catlike about her. Intriguing.

"But now to prove if my dear Ranma-chan has indeed turned all babe."

With a suave smirk Happosai shot forward, putting all of his energy into his speed to cover the distance separating them, and it seemed as if the ancient pervert crossed the round about seven metres in a picosecond. A pleased grin playing on his face one Grandmaster of the Anything Goes found himself attached to Ranma's ample bosom, and grinning like a maniac because he still had it in him he began the energy drain.

Yet looking up into Ranma's deep blue eyes didn't reveal the expected annoyance or fury, the contrary, his heir seemed rather amused. Frowning, he concentrated on the drain, only to find that no energy was being drained!

"W-Wha-?" he exclaimed intelligently, his already huge eyes going impossibly wide.

Ranma smiled and used her right hand to gently remove him from her bust, letting him to the ground. "I saw you coming from miles away and could have stopped you easily at any given moment, Happi. But I wanted to show you that some things have changed," she said calmly, her voice not holding even a hint of the arrogance and cockiness it would have held in former times.

Happosai blinked and looked up at her, a frown wrinkling his ancient face even more. "I can see that," he remarked dryly, the disappointment that the juice-up he'd expected to get from his favourite battery would now not happen slowly being overcome by his joy that his heir was alive. "But you've proven to my satisfaction that you are indeed Ranma." he paused, smiling a genuine smile.

"As said, the one and only," she replied softly with but the hint of a smile playing on her face for a few seconds before her expression changed to one of anger mixed with grim determination, "and I'll prove that some bad copy did what I was accused of."

Happosai nodded his assent, his expression serious as well. "No doubt about that. But what about the different look you sported? I could have sworn you looked like any other American. And these eyes may be old, but they're not easily fooled."

Ranma nodded, her angry expression fading to be replaced by a look of utter seriousness. "You're right, Happi. And if you allow me to change back I'll explain it. But I can only give you an abridged version for now, an acquaintance of mine is waiting. Deal?"

"An acquaintance, eh?" Happosai muttered in a 'Come on tone'. "Sure, tell me another one. Who's the lucky lady? Or should your tastes..."

"Don't finish this sentence if you value your continued good health," Ranma growled dangerously, her eyes flashing.

Happosai took a few steps back reflexively, only his self-control gained in centuries preventing him from exclaiming a startled and absolutely undignified "Eep!" "O-Of course, my dear," he soothed, clearing his throat. "I'd never assume something so ridiculous anyway," he added in the chest note of conviction.

Ranma shot him a glare. "Tell me another one, pervert," she growled, shaking her head. "So, do we have a deal?" she queried anew.

"Yes, yes, Ranma-chan. I want to know everything," Happosai replied eagerly, bopping his head up and down.

"Good. Here goes nothing," she grumbled and grit her teeth. **'Do it, Sym.'**

Her symbiote complied without further ado and initiated the change, Ranma yet again barely biting back pained screams. Happosai on his part watched in utter fascination how the characteristics and attributes of Ranma's body slowly changed from Asian to unmistakably Caucasian. The whole transformation was over in two minutes flat, the end result leaving the Grandmaster open-mouthed yet again, his bafflement clearly visible on his wrinkled face.

"Damn," he finally commented once he'd schooled his features, and strolled around the redhead with a nonchalant air about him while surveying her like a particularly interesting piece of meat, "I can't decide which form is more attractive. Can I see the other one again?" he queried hopefully.

"Moron," Ranma grumbled in annoyance and gave him a hard bop to the head.

"Owwie." Happosai exclaimed indignantly, rubbing his abused scalp while looking at her scoldingly. "How can you hit a poor, old man who just wants to enjoy the remainder of his days, and live with it?" he asked reproachfully.

"Quite well, actually." Ranma replied dryly, her left fist looming threateningly above his head. "Want me to bring forward more proof?" she queried, making use of a phrase she'd read in one law book or another in the bunk.

"No, no," Happosai placated quickly, "No need for that, Ranma-chan. So, what happened to you after I failed to bail you out?"

Ranma's expression turned sombre and the redhead sighed before sitting down Indian style on the ground, uncaring that the rooftop was more than a little uninviting what with the roofing fabric being soaking wet from the rain due to Sym insulating her body better than any man-made product. Happosai, not caring as well, mirrored her. "It all started when..."

-.-

Ten minutes later Ranma swung back towards 52nd and Seventh in high spirits, her elation stemming from the fact that Happosai had agreed to help her get some premature revenge on the Nerimans that had wronged her. She'd used the short amount of time she'd been able to allocate to the impromptu meeting to the fullest and had given Happosai a very compressed version of what had happened to her, yet had promised to divulge the full story later that night.

The old pervert would stop by at her house in five hours, and he'd sworn an oath that he'd do nothing to garner unwanted attention, even going so far as to behave according to his age. Truth be told, she didn't believe one second that he'd abide by his promise, but she just didn't care right now.

She felt good, and part of her elation stemmed also from what Happosai had told her. She had heard his tale of what he'd been up to in the time after her 'death', his thoughts on the betrayers and his reasons for staying in New York, and his words had moved her. On the one hand he had wanted to find proof that his chosen heir had not died in a simple busted prison escape, and failing that he'd at least wanted to find evidence that she could never have committed the crimes she'd been accused of. On the other hand he'd seen no need to return to Nerima any time soon due to the disgust he'd felt for but a scarce few Nerimans. The opportunity to 'liberate' silky darlings he'd never laid eyes on before might have been an influencing factor as well in her opinion, but she'd kept her thoughts to herself so as not to ruin her good mood. Sometimes it was just better to not ask and let sleeping dogs lie.

The redhead fired her webbing yet again and grinned as she remembered Happosai's expression when she'd told him she wanted his assistance in getting back at the betrayers, and if her time in the bunk hadn't hardened her to a level where nearly nothing could phase her any longer she'd have shivered in dread. The level of malice that had shone in the old man's eyes had been staggering, and Ranma felt herself looking forward to the results of Happosai's creativity.

Cackling gleefully Ranma swung into the street she'd left Felicia in, and presuming the cat wouldn't be as daft as to wait in the pouring rain she didn't waste a second on scanning the sidewalks, opting to scan for her ki-signature in the surrounding buildings instead. **'Bingo,' **the redhead thought with a smile, **'I'd have crashed there too. They're rumoured to have exceedingly good coffee. Yum.'**

Sym tsked in her mind. — _**You are turning into a right coffee addict, Ranma. You should balance your nutrition more and stop relying on me so much, **_— she scolded.

Ranma gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. **'You neutralise the adverse effects of that heavenly stuff, Sym, so I don't see why I shouldn't enjoy it. But I see your point regardless,' **she relented as she landed on the sidewalk.

— _**Good,**_ — Sym replied in a satisfied tone. — _**There seems to be hope for you after all. Who would have guessed? **_—

**'Har har, very funny,' **Ranma replied and changed her costume design back to the Scarlet Widow look with nary a thought. Ignoring the smug reply of her symbiote Ranma stepped into the resident chain store of Starbucks, well aware of the curious and surprised—in some cases downright shocked—looks of the patrons.

Holding her head high and not giving said looks even the slightest acknowledgement the redhead calmly walked to the Cat's table in a dignified manner and sat down in the chair opposite from Felicia. A devilish grin appeared on her face, unseen by all. "Hey kitty, finished your milk?" she teased.

Some of the eavesdroppers gasped in surprise, only adding to the amusement Ranma felt. Said amusement turned to slight disappointment though when Felicia simply smiled charmingly. "Why, you offering to buy this little cat another cup?" she queried while batting her eyelashes cutely.

Ranma snorted elegantly, reached behind the back of her head and tied her wet, curly hair into a loose ponytail with one of her tendrils. "Why not? I could use a cup o' coffee myself. Waiter?" she called over to a young man in his mid-twenties standing a few centimetres away at an adjacent table, his hand still frozen in mid-cleaning.

"Err, yes?" the blond young man asked after having shaken himself from his stupor, his blue eyes still showing surprise that yet another super-powered being had stopped by. "Oh, ahem, what may I bring you ladies?" he queried in a friendly manner, discreetly stowing away the cleaning tissue in his waiter's uniform in an apparent effort to make a good impression.

"She," Ranma waved her right hand at Felicia, "would like a large cup of milk," one could hear the smirk in Ranma's voice, and Felicia just shook her head in amusement and let Ranma have her fun, "and I'm in favour of a large cup of coffee."

"At once, ladies," the waiter replied with a nod and disappeared to take care of their orders.

"And," Felicia began, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, "have any success?"

"Mmmmh," Ranma confirmed. "It turned out to be an old acquaintance I hadn't seen in long time, and we had... some things to discuss," she said, leaving open the nature of said discussion.

"An old acquaintance, eh?" Felicia teased smilingly. "Should I be jealous?"

Ranma's demeanour changed from relaxed to annoyed in the blink of an eye, and she leaned forward abruptly. "I don't appreciate you making jokes pertaining that issue. I'll only repeat it once," she paused for effect, "I'm not interested in a relationship. With anyone," she concluded in a cold and sibilant tone, leaning back again.

Felicia's eyes narrowed as well, that being the opposite reaction of what Ranma would have expected. "The heck with that all-I-need-is- li'l-ole-me-attitude," she snarled heatedly and leaned forward, eyes flashing. "I went through the same thing as you, but I learned my lesson in the end.

"At some point in time you will have to trust again, 'cause if you don't you will one day wake up an old woman, all alone."

Ranma remained unfazed. "Why would you care?" she queried coldly, her voice betraying no emotions, her arms now crossed underneath her breasts.

Felicia's eyes turned soft, yet lost nothing of their intensity. "Because I know what you're living through, for I've been there. Because I see you as someone who could be my friend. And I don't like to see my friends miserable." She paused. "Shutting yourself off from everybody is not the solution. Believe me," she said seriously, her eyes now beseechingly boring into where Ranma's eyes would have been. "And whatever else may have happened to you, you can't let it wear you down. For then, when you can not enjoy life, then whoever did this to you will have won."

— _**She is right, Ranma. As much as I would like you to remain in this 'funk' as humans would call your mood seeing that it makes you so wonderfully merciless, encasing yourself in a literal armour of ice is not advisable, **_— Sym spoke up, adding to the inner conflict warring within Ranma. — _**The disadvantages outweigh the benefits by far, and surely you remember what I said about socialising more? Making contacts only starts with Felicia Hardy; there are a lot of people worth getting to know in New York. Spider-Man only being one of them. **_—

The redhead finally expelled her breath in a deep sigh, this being her answer to both Felicia and her symbiote. "I will think about it. Can't promise you more than that," she muttered, slouching back in her chair.

"That's okay by me." Felicia replied with the hint of a smile playing on her face, said smile being echoed by Sym. "Now I believe we have provided enough entertainment for today," she added pointedly, and several patrons busied themselves hastily with random things and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, "and we have kept this young man waiting long enough."

"Whatever," Ranma snorted, seemingly indifferently. **'But a good coffee now... That's what the doc's ordered.'**

Moments thereafter their beverages had been served, and Felicia and Ranma enjoyed their respective nourishment in companionable silence, the latter hanging to her thoughts as she went over the food for thought the former had given her.

-.-

Ten minutes later Scarlet Widow and the Black Cat could be found high above New York's streets, the two crime-fighters having resumed their swing towards the Symkarian embassy, their original destination prior to the multitude of interruptions that had occurred. Both Ranma and Felicia were silent, this silence seamlessly following up on the silence that had reigned between them after their beverages had been served.

Felicia, being held securely in Scarlet Widow's arms, didn't mind the silence one bit. The Black Cat was much too pleased with herself to care. Her good mood didn't just stem from the exciting swing, the sensation of buildings, streetlights and god knows what passing them by at high speed, no, the majority of her good mood was caused by her earlier success.

She had to qualify that a bit, Felicia mused. Maybe not a success as of yet, but she was quite certain that she'd managed to get through to the fellow crime-fighter and almost-friend, and the thought of having whisked away a fellow heroine from a path that led to slow self-destruction filled her with a sense of accomplishment. She had been there and only just managed to get her act together, Felicia mused with a frown, and she knew that this phase of self-imposed isolation led to nothing good.

True, only time would tell if Scar actually would open up to the rest of humanity again, but it was obvious that the spider-powered woman had not outright discarded her opinion. And that was half the battle.

Ranma for her part was not angry at Felicia because of the intrusion into her privacy, not really, just a tad annoyed; yet this feeling of annoyance was not strong enough to blind her to the truth that had rung in the Cat's words. What she'd said had hit home despite—or was it because of—its bluntness, and Ranma was still immersed in the process of analysing Felicia's arguments and point of view.

It went without saying that she wouldn't give the Cat a hard time because the other woman had spoken her mind, yet seeing that the Symkarian embassy came into view she'd have to postpone further dwellings until later.

Shifting her mental gears into 'battle-mode' Ranma descended from New York's skyline and landed on a building opposite of the headquarters of what might just be her new employer, her intent being to gather intelligence instead of rushing in blindly. Everyone simply visited if they wanted to apply for a new job, so why not differ from the norm and pull off something difficult but ingenious beforehand to impress your potential future boss?

Letting Felicia gently to the ground, Ranma cast and appreciative look at the actual embassy building, a low whistle escaping her. "Neat," she muttered, just loud enough to be heard by her companion.

"Yep," Felicia affirmed, looking briefly at the modern-looking building with its aesthetic gardening and well-placed sculptures before glancing back at Ranma who was watching the complex like a hawk. "I presume you chose to land here instead of in front of the embassy to gather intel?" Felicia queried.

"Yeah," the redhead responded, her intent gaze sweeping over the grounds.

Said grounds were unobtrusively populated with security personnel stationed at strategically important points, and wearing dark suits and night vision goggles and speaking into their wrists on occasion. They looked like clichés from a movie for all intents and purposes, yet there could be no doubt about them being a threat to anyone trying to get into the embassy in Ranma's mind, their smooth movements conveying that all of them were trained in the Art.

The standard guards being placed at certain checkpoints around the embassy were a lot less unobtrusive, yet their obvious armament and equipment, night vision goggles among them, made them a serious threat in their own right. All things considered the embassy seemed to be well defended.

"That it is," affirmed Felicia, making Ranma realise that she had spoken this out loud. "Their security is state of the Art, Scar. I wouldn't be surprised if they already knew we're here."

"And you know that how?" Ranma queried, the raised brow audible in her voice.

"Experience," Felicia retorted seemingly lightly, yet the look in her eyes as well as her tone conveyed that she wouldn't divulge more. "We should probably just get it over with and go down there."

"Hmm," Ranma exclaimed, lifting her right hand to her chin as she pondered, "I wonder if we should make a lasting impression and disable every single guard or if I should turn us invisible and we sneak inside. Decisions, decisions..."

Felicia shook her head in amusement. "You're here to take up a job, for a high class mercenary no less, and instead of calling on them like anyone else you wanna break into the domicile of your prospective employer?" she asked with a snort, her green eyes glinting.

"Yeah. So what? What anyone else does is highly overrated anyway," Ranma retorted with a shrug, turning her head back to the embassy.

"Oh, nothing. It's just... Unusual. And I happen to like unusual," the Black Cat replied with a catty grin, her white teeth showing in the darkness.

Ranma chuckled. "Glad to see you're no scaredy-cat," she teased, tilting her head sideways to look at Felicia who shot her a mock-glare. "So which should it be? Knockin' 'em out or sneaking?"

Felicia put her left hand up to her chin and began to scratch it with her thumb and index finger as her face gained a pondering expression. "Hmm... Me being a cat I prefer the sneaky approach; and I'm certain it will impress Sable if we manage to sneak into her office without anyone noticing. Not to mention, it might prompt her to pay us more."

"Mmmh, good point," Ranma agreed, nodding her head once.

"Thanks. You know, I'm very curious about this 'turning us invisible' thing you mentioned. Besides, I doubt Silver Sable would appreciate you damaging her employees and / or staff," she impressed on the redhead.

Ranma nodded. "Agreed. I drew the same conclusions from the available data," she stated, which drew an amused snort from the Black Cat. "Now, to sate your curiosity," she paused, winking out of existence and reappearing behind Felicia to swoop her up into her arms in one move, "I will show you a technique I improved upon... a while back," she added with a barely audible hitch in her voice.

Felicia arched a brow as she looked up into Ranma's masked face, not showing any surprise at the redhead's surprise manoeuvre. "Have I mentioned that they have infrared sensors, motion detectors and other high-tech stuff? As I said, they most likely already know we're here."

"I had gathered as much," Ranma replied calmly. "Now get a hold of your panties, for this is gonna blow ya away," she advised cheekily, and furrowed her brows in concentration. Moments later the air around the pair began to shimmer, and a strange light effect washed over them before they disappeared from view. "Et voila!" Ranma exclaimed satisfied, a grin clearly audible in her voice. "We're invisible, and none but the best of the best could ever hope to detect us. Sensors? Infrared? Bah."

"Wow," Felicia breathed as the reality of what the Umi could do had sunken in. "That's a handy skill to have." she commented, barely able to stop herself from demanding to be taught this said skill; but the knowledge that the shaky foundation of their budding friendship would likely crumble helped her to restrain herself. "Any drawbacks?" she queried curiously.

Ranma, who'd carefully watched Felicia's reaction and had seen how she'd squashed her want to learn this skill, nodded, her mask hiding her expression that showed a mixture of relief and tightly controlled hope. **'Not many would have stopped themselves from voicing their want to learn the Umi, yet she did. Sym seems to be right, she does want to be my friend,'** she mused while giving the outward appearance to be sorting her thoughts.

— _**I do not pretend to be an expert in regards of human behaviour, but the available evidence does indeed suggest that your friendship seems to be more important to Felicia Hardy than benefiting from your techniques, **_— Sym commented. — _**Coupled with her standing up to you minutes ago does make her interesting, does it not? **_— she queried slyly.

**'Yes,'** Ranma mused, her brow furrowed in thought. **'I'll make a gamble and put my trust in her. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.'**

— _**Fatalist, **_— Sym teased.

**'Know it all symbiote,'** Ranma shot back, tilting her head over to Felicia when the Black Cat cleared her throat.

"Sorry, was sorting my thoughts." Ranma shrugged, not sounding apologetic at all, the reason why Felicia snorted. "Anyway, yeah, the technique has its drawbacks. First and foremost," she began, ticking off her left thumb, "you need a shitload of energy to maintain it, energy I have in abundance, which is why it doesn't matter to me to keep it up while I explain things."

"I had wondered," Felicia remarked dryly.

"Second," Ranma ticked off her left index finger, "opponents who have a similar technique might be able to sense you. Third," the left middle finger followed, "it takes a long time to built the necessary reserves. But the results are well worth the effort. Watch."

With no further warning Ranma jumped down to the ground ten metres below which prompted Felicia to hastily sling her hands around the redhead's neck while shooting her a dirty look. Ranma simply smirked behind her mask and held the other woman a bit tighter to show her that she'd never been in danger prior to landing on the sidewalk, her knees not even buckling from the force the landing exerted on them. With a few, powerful jumps she cleared the 53rd street and landed in the garden surrounding the embassy right on the cobbled pathway that led to the building, not making a sound.

Felicia raised a delicate brow as Ranma walked up to the structure seemingly without a care in the world, her surprise stemming from the fact that Scar's technique worked as advertised. None of the guards had noticed a thing!

The Black Cat briefly shook her head in wonder, her imagination running rampant with what she could have done with such a technique at her hands during her time as a cat burglar. She'd have been unstoppable!

**'Don't go there, girl. Your life's good the way it is,'** she chided herself. **'And I've a feeling that hanging around her and being a friend instead of bugging her for techniques is gonna make said life a whole lot more interesting.'**

Felicia Hardy had no way of knowing just how right she was.

-.-

A few minutes thereafter, standing in the shadow of the tall wall that surrounded the compound, Ranma was contemplating the best way to get into the embassy. The original plan to sneak in through one of the entrances had been shot to hell due to said entrances now being too tightly guarded after the change of guards that had unfortunately taken place a few moments ago, and Ranma was cursing up a storm in her mind.

At first they had thought they had been detected when almost all guards walked up to the building which had prompted Ranma to practically sprint over to the wall, and she could have kicked herself afterwards that she hadn't capitalised on the good opportunity to get into the structure; but she'd just been too surprised by what turned out to be a scheduled change of guards.

The increased number of guards made trying to use one of the entrances to sneak in nigh impossible, and Ranma just didn't want to chance their luck and risk being detected prematurely. Stealth was key if they wanted to impress Sable prior to even taking up a job for the mercenary, there was just no room for mistakes.

Thus Ranma thoroughly cursed her overconfidence as well as her stupidity for not having made a contingency plan in case the original plan turned out to be unfeasible, now opting to check the flat roof for possibilities to enter the building as a contingency plan she'd made up on the spot. Sneaking away from the wall Ranma carried Felicia—Sym's cloaking abilities ensuring she left no tracks—and moved about as silent as a cat on the prowl until she found a spot where the guards were standing about ten metres away from each other.

"Perfect. Now hold on tight." Ranma whispered into Felicia's ear. "I'm gonna jump up to the rooftop."

Felicia's eyes widened a bit and she hurried to get a better grip on the redhead, well remembering the stunt the other crime-fighter had pulled when she'd jumped down from that house over the road. Then Ranma jumped with an effortless flex of the muscles of her legs, easily clearing the twelve metres and landing on the flat roof in a low crouch, not making a sound.

Ranma continued to hold Felicia in the fireman's carry instead of letting go of her, which was inevitably necessary due to motion detectors and other high-tech equipment likely being installed on the rooftop as well. A thorough check of the rooftop revealed that the sole option to enter the building seemed to be force, yet an unexpected stroke of luck happened to help Ranma and Felicia out.

"Carlo," a female voice exclaimed loudly from the southern side of the building, her words easily carrying through the night air, "close that fuckin' window right now or the boss is gonna have our heads! 'N' I like my head attached to the shoulders, idiot!" she exclaimed heatedly, and following the woman's voice Ranma fully intended to check up on what might just be their best shot at entering the embassy undetected.

A slow grin spread on her face when Ranma heard 'Carlo's' answer. "Oh chill, Donna. What's gonna happen? Someone droppin' in on us outta the blue? Come on, babe, we got all that high-tech stuff, no one ain't got a chance. So let me smoke in peace," the man complained grumpily.

While 'Donna' grumbled over 'Carlo's' stupidity and addiction to the 'cancer sticks that'd one day cost them their jobs' and thus started a verbal brawl, Ranma racked her brain for a way to enter through the window without leaving Felicia behind. Without Sym cloaking her and her maintaining the Umi the alarms would go off, using webbing or tendrils would disrupt the Umi as well, and crawling down to the window with just one hand was troublesome, not to mention likely dangerous for Felicia's peace of mind.

Sym was well aware of the predicament her host was in and could have offered several different solutions, but she was also of the opinion that Ranma needed a mate in her life, one that was not adverse to her host's dual nature, and some physical contact with Felicia Hardy—whom the symbiote considered a good, and considering the available data, likely open-minded mate for her host—to get her host's hormones flowing might be a start. Her host needed stability in her life, stability to which a mate could and would contribute.

Thus it was with barely suppressed glee that Sym chose one particular solution, making certain interesting information pertaining their abilities she'd hitherto deemed adventitious available to Ranma. — _**If I may offer a suggestion, Ranma, —**_ Sym downright purred, — _**I think you might find this interesting. —**_

-.-

Unsurprisingly Ranma blushed a little as she began to grasp the implications of Sym's suggestion, yet slowly but surely a grin broke out on her face as she listened intently to Sym's explanation, a grin that always appeared whenever she had the chance to learn a new technique. In this case it wasn't really a technique but an ability, yet the same basic concept applied. Give the ex-Saotome something new and exciting to try out, and she was as keen as mustard.

Ranma's grin had only grown wider by the time Sym had finished her explanation, her elation stemming from the fact that she'd have the chance to test this new ability right away—Felicia's acquiescence provided—and the redhead made a mental note to properly thank Spider-Man at one point in time, seeing that the solution was his 'fault'. And said solution was simple as well as intriguing. Due to the fact that they derived their powers from Spider-Man who in turn had in his day received his powers from a spider, she could carry people on her back just like any other spider, which, as the young crime-fighter found, was a very useful ability to have.

Now her only problem consisted therein how to broach this suggestion to Felicia. On the one hand she couldn't deny that she was eager to test out this new ability, but on the other hand she couldn't help but feel somewhat like a pervert for making this suggestion. **'Meh, I only hope I won't damage what seems to develop into a friendship between us. Hopefully she'll laugh it off 'cause we're both girls. Yeah. Even though I'm into girls. Aagh! Get your mind outta the gutter, Ranma! Better get your fuckin' priorities straight and get it over with, damn!'** she cursed.

— _**Excellent idea, Ranma, —**_ Sym remarked, her voice sounding slightly sarcastic. — _**You are wasting valuable time with your unfounded and baseless worries. Making assumptions based on incomplete data inevitably leads to false assumptions. Work with what you have, and do not base your idea of how Felicia Hardy will react on the adversities that befell you in the past. Now get it over with. You might be surprised. —**_

Ranma, having initially been a bit cross with Sym due to the symbiote's sarcasm, couldn't deny the accuracy of Sym's analysis; taking a deep breath, which prompted Felicia to look up at her with curious green eyes, Ranma opened her mouth and began to explain.

-.-

Needless to say, the Black Cat had been dumbfounded by Ranma's explanation for a few moments, but her having experienced much stranger situations in her turbulent life as well as the fact that the quarrel between Carlo and Donna had died down made her agree without making a fuss.

As soon as the Black Cat had climbed onto Ranma's back the redhead crawled down the three metres that separated them from the open window, yet she moved a lot slower than usual, all the while keeping them hidden by the Umi. Her slowness stemmed from the facts that A) she didn't want to scare Felicia stiff by crawling down the wall at reckless speeds and B) the other woman's ample talents being pressed against her back did a damn good job in distracting her.

Sym even had the audacity to tease her about her predicament, but Ranma ignored her symbiote; she was much too relieved that Felicia had not reacted adversely to her plan as she had feared she might and opted to throw a cautious glance into the room instead of starting a verbal spar with her symbiote. The quick scan of the room revealed that it was a plain looking store-room of some kind, the guard that had been identified as Carlo, a Latin looking tall man apparently in his mid thirties happening to be the sole occupant of the store-room with Donna having left.

Seeing that the muscular man was taking the last drags from his cigarette Ranma exploded into action, seizing her chance; jumping through the window and using her speed to reappear behind Carlo she dropped the Umi and delivered a chop to the neck, the precise strike dropping the man like a sack of potatoes.

No sooner had the man crumpled to the ground than Felicia removed herself from Ranma's back, taking a look around before looking down at the unconscious Carlo. "He shoulda listened to Donna. Cigarettes are bad for you," the Black Cat commented with a snigger, her green eyes glittering amusedly.

"You know that and I know that," Ranma agreed lightly as she picked up the unconscious man, sounding mock serious, "but to each their own."

"True, Scar. His addiction so worked in our favour seeing that it literally opened the door, or more precisely, the window for us. You think Sable will curtail his pay?" she queried fake-thoughtfully, watching as Ranma hid the unconscious guard in a convenient closet.

"If I were her I would," Ranma replied mock-seriously, turning to look at Felicia as soon as she'd closed the closet door. "Smoking on duty and getting knocked out, allowing intruders to enter. Really," she tsked, hands on her hips in mock-indignation.

"Oh yes, it is sooo hard to find competent personnel nowadays." Felicia sighed, her tone mock-annoyed.

Ranma and Felicia looked at each other and shared a quiet laugh. Some of the tension had noticeably faded away now that they'd successfully infiltrated the embassy, hence the bantering a few seconds prior, and the redheaded martial artist was confident that they'd be able to give Sable a surprise.

"Sleepyhead here," Ranma pointed at the closet, "will be out for at least thirty minutes, more than long enough for our purposes," she remarked, her voice and demeanour serious again. "Now to make things look inconspicuous," she said silently, almost to herself, and walked over to the window, closing it to make it look like Carlo had finished his cigarette.

"Who wouldn't be out like a light after a chop like that?" Felicia muttered with a shake of her head, and as soon as Ranma faced her again a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Can you extend your invisibility to cover me while we walk side by side? I'd really like to stretch out my legs." the Black Cat purred, sensuously stretching her body.

Ranma was so captivated by the enchanting sight that she didn't answer for a few moments, a decidedly amused Sym bringing her back to reality with a teasing comment. "'Course. As long as you keep physical contact it ain't a problem." the redhead replied, not giving her symbiote the satisfaction of gracing her with a reply. **'Smug know-it-all symbiote,'** she inwardly grumbled in that partition of her mind that Sym couldn't access. **'The worst is, Sym's right. Felicia is attractive. Very much so. Meh, better don't go there, Ranma. It'll only bring you grief.'**

Glancing at the Black Cat she noted that the other woman had extended her hand, and several seconds later it clicked in Ranma's mind and the redhead grasped Felicia's right hand with her left. Glad that her mask hid her embarrassment she threw the Umi up around them, making them disappear from view once more.

-.-

Taking the lead Ranma stepped out of the room, thanking her lucky star that Donna—or someone else—had left the door open. A cautious glance to the sides revealed that no one was currently frequenting the long corridor, and acting on a whim Ranma turned left and began to walk, Felicia walking beside her and falling into step while holding on to the redhead's hand, apparently trusting Ranma's lead.

After walking for a while a door to their right opened unexpectedly, prompting Ranma and Felicia to press their backs against the white corridor wall in a hurry, Felicia grasping Ranma's hand harder reflexively; the redhead was so distracted by the increased intensity of the physical contact and the tingly feeling it evoked in her that she almost didn't pay attention to the newcomer, Sym's soft but insistent prompting bringing her back to reality.

Her attention brought back to more pressing matters Ranma surveyed the man, the newcomer that had entered the corridor turning out to be a tall man clad in a mostly dark green costume with a dark blue face mask, which Sym immediately identified as the Prowler, aka Hobie Brown, a normal human who specialised in martial arts and relied on technical gadgets like steel claws and sleep gas. Sym classified him as a minor threat due to him not possessing super-powers, but Ranma, not liking the striking parallels to a certain insane gymnast from another life, vowed to be cautious all the same.

The Prowler turned his head to look over his right shoulder, a sigh escaping him as he stepped into the corridor. "Do you know what Sable wants now, Flint?" he queried, a hint of annoyance noticeable in his voice. "I got places to be, and if I don't get the shopping done Mindy's gonna have my head." he added in a quiet mutter.

Another man wearing grey pants and a green and black striped shirt stepped out of the door, this one taller and more muscular than Hobie Brown. "No idea, Hobie. But as long as it involves money 'n' action I'm game," the man replied, raking his left hand through his brown hair, his brown eyes twinkling slowly.

Prowler snorted. "Money, yes, but I'd wish for a little less action. The last few missions contained a little too much lead for my taste," he said as he turned left, the man named Flint falling into step beside him.

"Don't matter to me," Flint replied with a grin, casually turning his right hand into sand and back.

Ranma went bug-eyed at the sight. **'W-What the heck! Did he just do what I think he did or am I seeing things?' **she asked to no one in particular, noting absently that Felicia didn't appear to be surprised in the slightest.

"Very funny, Flint," Prowler grumbled in reply, "if I were almost invulnerable some crappy lead wouldn't bother me either."

"Can't have everything, Hobie," the taller man replied sagely as they disappeared round the corner.

— _**Your perception is working within normal parameters, Ranma. So no, you did not see things, **_— Sym spoke into Ranma's confused thoughts. — _**The one called Flint Marko, aka The Sandman, did just turn his hand into sand and back, it being part of his abilities. And it goes without saying that this man is infinitely more dangerous than the Prowler. **_

— _**According to Peter Parker's memories Flint Marko is a super villain, yet his presence within these walls suggests that this data might be outdated. I recommend further observation before taking action of any kind. **_—

**'Noted, Sym,'** Ranma replied with a mental nod as she pulled Felicia away from the wall, motioning her to follow the two men. **'What else can you tell me about him?'**

— _**Commencing download, **_— Sym replied, and Ranma was subjected to the now familiar feeling of information being assimilated.

**'Holy shit!'** Ranma exclaimed in her mind after the download had been completed, her pace slowing down slightly as she went through the information. **'That's an impressive set of abilities.'** she commented, her mind kicking into overdrive as it began to devise strategies to combat a man who could turn his whole body—or any part he so chose— into sand. **'Yep, I see why you recommended caution. He's a formidable enemy.'**

— _**That he is. It is good to see that you begin to listen to my words of wisdom, **_— Sym commented, and Ranma thought her symbiote sounded distinctly smug.

Ranma grumbled inwardly and imagined herself sticking her tongue out while stretching her cheeks. — _**You do not really expect me to grace your childish behaviour with a dignified comment, do you? **_— Sym queried rhetorically, only serving to increase Ranma's mental grumbling.

**'No, but it made me feel better, Your Smugness,'** the martial artist finally replied cheekily, having paused in her thoughts to watch the Prowler and the Sandman pass by the guards flanking the office door that apparently led to Sable's office. **'And that accounts for something in my mind. Now shush, these two are about to enter that office, and things are gonna get interesting in a few.'**

As soon as the men had entered the office and closed the door behind them Ranma dropped the Umi and felled the guards faster than the eye could follow without making a sound, her knowledge in the knockout pressure points coming in handy. A grin playing on her face—it being conveyed by her relaxed posture—Ranma covered them in the Umi again. "Shall we find out if Sable's at home?" she queried in an ironic tone, keeping her voice down to a whisper.

"By all means," Felicia whispered back with a catty grin as she pushed the door open.

-.-

The invisible duo could hardly stop themselves from bursting out in roaring laughter upon seeing the expressions of the three occupants of the room when they strolled into the said room invisible as they were; Sable, who was seated behind a massive wooden desk facing the door looked at said door in confusion, which prompted Sandman and Prowler—who were seated in functional, read uncomfortable, office chairs facing their employer—to turn their heads so as to see what had their boss so confused.

"Did that door just open on its own?" the Prowler queried in a fake-calm tone, looking from Sandman to his employer.

"I believe it did. And it can't have been the wind, Mr. Brown closed it properly," Sable remarked thoughtfully, and turning to the computer on her desk she began typing away. "Hmm, a quick check should reveal... No, nothing. Neither the infrared nor the sensors are picking up anything. Odd."

"Is this place haunted or something?" Sandman muttered as his eyes scanned the room, getting ready to examine things more closely.

At the same time Ranma and Felicia had crossed the room soundlessly and had taken up position behind Silver Sable.

"Not really, Mr. Marko," Ranma answered, letting go of Felicia's hand while dropping the Umi at the same time, their unexpected appearance causing two heads and one office chair to turn sharply. "We just decided to check up on the security before applying for a job."

"Seems the said security could use some improvements," Felicia added with a mock-pensive look on her face, nodding sagely.

"It seems that way," a thoughtful and curious looking Silver Sable mused with an inclination of her head, showing no inclination to get out of her office chair to take action; rather, she calmly remained seated, her fingers steepled as she surveyed the newcomers.

Ranma watched the others carefully and briefly tensed when Flint Marko switched into a offensive stance while Prowler limited himself to survey the situation with his arms crossed over his chest, but the redhead relaxed when Sable continued to speak. "Stand down, Mr. Marko. If they meant harm they'd already have attacked, and the profile of Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, gives no indication she'd act this way. She's hardly known for offensive behaviour outside of being attacked.

"You on the other hand," she waved her hand at Ranma, a pensive look on her face, "are an unknown. Scarlet Widow. There are few things known about you. According to Jameson," she underlined the name with slight disdain, "you are a 'masked menace', a vigilante out to cause chaos and destruction. Yet your fight with and subsequent defeat of Otto Octavius suggests you're not to be added to the villain category.

"Or was Ock a rival that got in the way?" she queried, her blue eyes glinting with curiosity.

Ranma, who'd placed her hands on her hips during Sable's blunt question, used her mastery of the Soul of Ice to keep a level head. Besides, she had to admit that this question was justified. "Ock, a rival? Certainly not. He was a nuisance who endangered innocents, and I draw the line where innocents are concerned," she stated with icy conviction, the power of her voice drawing everyone in.

"As for my being a hero or villain, I just do what I feel is right, consequences be damned, and I don't give a flyin' fuck if Jameson calls me either or engages in a bloody smear campaign 'gainst me," she added, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Fuckin' public opinion is fleetin' anyway," she grumbled angrily.

Flint Marko whistled lowly. "Bird sure swears a lot. But she's got her priorities straight," he commented, giving Ranma an evaluating once over.

Prowler turned his head to his comrade-in-arms. "True. It's refreshing to find someone who's willing to fight fire with fire. If memory serves right, didn't you nearly kill Ock?" he queried, his tone neutral but curious.

"Yeah," Ranma replied, placing her hands on her hips again. "And I woulda offed the sucker hadn't Spidey interfered."

Sandman nodded knowingly. "The little bug has a way of doing that," he commented, his voice sounding only mildly hostile.

Ranma shrugged. "Yeah, but that's water under the bridge," she said, turning her head to look at Sable who'd followed this exchange in silent attentiveness. "Now, we're here to apply for a job," the redhead smoothly continued, looking back at Sable. "I heard you always have demand for skilled super-powered freelancers, so I decided to swing by, and the Cat here tagged along. Methinks she wants to bring a fresh breeze into her dull life," she teased.

"I'll getcha for this comment later, Scar," Felicia muttered just loud enough to be heard, drawing silent chuckles from Sandman and Prowler, and even the neutral looking Sable showed faint amusement. "As my cheeky but competent associate said, we're looking for a way to kick some ass and earn some good bucks along the way. You got anything in that direction, Sable?" she asked, raking her left hand through her silver hair.

The now decidedly amused looking Sable put a finger to her mouth while pretending to skim through available missions in her mind, her eyes slowly coming back into focus after a few seconds. "As a matter of fact, yes. But before we get down to business I have to know what she," Sable nodded in Ranma's direction, "is capable off, aside from entering heavily guarded embassies undetected. I don't really trust the media's information, thus I'd like to test you, Widow. Feel up to it?"

Outwardly Ranma remained calm and completely unmoved, but her mind was running a mile a minute as it ran through several different scenarios. The most likely she came up with was a fight between her and Sandman. Now that would get really interesting.

Keeping her voice level she replied in a dry tone, "Sure. Hope you got your insurance covered."

Silver Sable smiled enigmatically, her eyes twinkling slowly. "I don't believe that will be a problem, Scarlet Widow."

-.-

Three minutes later, after a confusing tour through the maze-like corridors of the Symkarian embassy—during which both Ranma and Sym recorded the way back as well as possible routes of escape to the best of their respective abilities—the quintet arrived in a large sports hall, and Sable gave Ranma and Felicia the chance for a good look around.

The training area resembled the set-up that had been used for the arena fights Ranma had participated in a while ago, yet the "ring"—the term having to be used loosely due to its dimension—was a lot bigger, nearly extending to the size of a football field. Huge pillars and beams supported the structure, giving the arena an air of being very durable. The rectangular ring was faced by stands that were protected by thick and sturdy looking glass, allowing Sable or anyone else to watch the training or application fights in relative safety.

The Symkarian mercenary cleared her throat, and once she was sure she had Ranma's and Felicia's attention she waved her arms at the modern arena. "This is where we train, and to test potential applicants to my satisfaction I had this 'arena' upgraded not long ago. The walls," Ranma's as well as Felicia's gazes scanned over said walls, trying to discernparticularities, "are lined with Vibranium, making it almost impossible to damage them." she said pridefully. "The glass protecting the stands is interwoven with Adamantium, thus ensuring the safety of whoever decides to watch."

Ranma nodded appreciatively and Felicia whistled lowly, appreciation shining in her green eyes as well. "Neat. That oughta have cost a hefty sum."

"Yes," Sable confirmed with a nod. "But it's well worth it in the long run. You can imagine that repairs were an almost weekly necessity with the people I employ." Sandman whistled innocently, folding his arms behind his back. "And after a while I tired of signing repair bill after repair bill. Adamantium would have been another, even more durable option, but aside from it being insanely costly its greatest advantage is also its greatest disadvantage in this case."

"Its near indestructibility," Felicia spoke up, nodding sagely.

"Indeed." Sable replied with an inclination of her head. "Adamantium doesn't give in an inch, and you can imagine the patterns of injuries that would occur if combatants got carried away in an arena made of Adamantium," Sable added.

"Oh yeah," four voices exclaimed in unison, troubled expressions on their faces as they imagined how much it'd hurt to be bodily slammed into something indestructible.

"Good," Sable exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Now, we're not here for the fun of it, so let's get down to business. Sandman, you will test Widow's capabilities in a one on one, all out."

"Are you sure, boss?" Sandman queried, frowning. "I mean—"

"Shush, Mr. Marko," Sable replied, putting her right index finger to her lips. "Something tells me she's full of surprises, and I for my part would like to see if she's up to the challenge. After all, there's no in between during missions, and sometimes one is tasked with the unsavoury job to buy the other team members time, either to complete the mission, or for a tactical retreat."

Ranma nodded slowly, already knowing all this from her training, which had encompassed tactics to a certain degree. Also, the situation had developed as she'd assumed, and in the meantime she had devised several strategies to fight a man that could turn his body into sand. Unfortunately all of them would yield unpleasant questions after their appliance, but neither Sym nor she saw alternative options that'd give them acceptable chances at success. And Ranma strongly intended to succeed, not just because it would raise her chances to get a job, but to prove to herself that she could stand up to really tough opponents.

"Couldn't agree more," Ranma opined with a nod at Sable, crossing her arms under her breasts. "So, whenever you are ready, Mr. Marko," she added, waving her right hand at the arena.

"Call me Flint. 'N' don't expect me to go easy on ya just 'cause you're a girl," Sandman grunted.

"Wouldn't have dreamed of it, Flint. And don't expect _me_ to go easy on ya 'cause you're crying when I'll have destroyed all your sandcastles," Ranma retorted with a grin in her voice.

Flint Marko snorted in amusement. "We're gunna see who's cryin' at the end," he shot back, confidently crossing his arms across his chest.

"If you're quite finished with your bickering, ladies, how about you get started?" Sable interjected, drawing an "Oi!" of indignance from Sandman which the mercenary ignored. "We will be watching the fight from the stands, and once there I'll give the signal to begin," she added and turned around on her heels, heading for said stands without looking back, expecting Prowler and the Black Cat to follow her.

The green clad man did so right away but strolled after his boss smoothly, his economic way of movement telling Ranma that Sym's information proved to be correct; the man had at least a basic instruction in the Art.

Felicia caught her eye and gave her an encouraging look and a thumbs-up before turning around and following Sable and Prowler. Ranma stared after the other woman for a few moments, her gaze on the enticing sway of the Cat's hips.

— _**Ranma, I am picking up an increase in both heart rate and breathing rate. The level of pheromones in your bloodstream is rising as well. Is everything in order?**_ — Sym queried, her voice mock-worried.

**'Of course it is, and you know that quite well, you ruddy, meddling symbiote, you,' **Ranma shot back, her focus turning inward when Felicia sat down next to Sable. **'So I happen to find her attractive, so what? It doesn't mean a thing.'**

— _**If you say so,**_ — Sym commented, her tone sounding wholly unconvinced. — _**To direct your attention away from 'things that mean nothing'**_ — Ranma could practically feel the sarcasm dripping of these words, — _**to matters at hand, I gather that Mr. Marko is waiting. As are the others.**_ —

Ranma let her gaze travel over the stands and Sable took that as cue to give a regal nod. "Begin," she simply said, her face set in a neutral mask with only her expressive blue eyes betraying her immense curiosity.

The redhead grinned behind her mask and rolled her neck first to the left, then to the right, producing two subsequent cracks. "Let's rumble," she whispered, her voice filled with pre-battle excitement.

And a rumble it should turn out to be.

-.-

The Sandman didn't waste a second. As soon as he could be sure that his opponent's attention was firmly on the fight he turned both his arms to sand, deciding to start big. His right hand morphed into a giant morning star while his left hand retained its normal form, only tripling in size. A menacing grin started to spread on his face as he stalked towards Scarlet Widow, icy determination showing in his eyes. The boss wanted an all-out fight, she'd get an all-out fight.

Suddenly, just the glint appearing in his eyes giving away his intention, Sandman stretched his left arm towards the statuesque Ranma, and he could already hear the celebratory music as his enlarged hand closed in on the applicant. **'Gal must've lost her nerve.' **he thought with a mental shrug, not feeling sorry that he'd been tasked with the job to sift chaff from the wheat. **'Che, bird's just not cut out for our bizz if she looses her cool so easily. Too bad, I kinda liked her attitude. That, and she's got a nice rack and one helova cute ass.'**

In the stands Felicia was watching in surprise and worry how the former so-confident fellow crime-fighter seemed to have gone to pieces. That, or she was just cosying the Sandman along, Felicia mused with a frown. **'Yeah,'** she told herself as she watched Sandman's giant hand being mere centimetres away from her friend, **'that's gotta be it. She's just luring him into a trap.'** She paused, the worried expression returning with a vengeance. **'She's gotta be.'**

Felicia didn't dare take her eyes away from the happenings, and would she have chanced a look at Silver Sable and the Prowler—who were sitting in the seats to her right—she wouldn't have gleaned much anyway, seeing as both were watching the test in stoic silence, neither Sable's face nor Prowler's body language giving away anything aside from attentiveness.

Down below Ranma was hard pressed not to break out into a wide grin. **'Just a bit more...'** she thought, subtly flexing her muscles.

— _**Do you not think you have kept them on tenterhooks long enough?**_ — Sym scolded, just before Ranma blurred and reappeared behind the incoming Sandman, who looked confused for a moment before turning his head around, only just managing to harden himself to a stone-like molecular integrity before being hit by a punch of monstrous strength. In the stands Silver Sable as well as Prowler were looking on in surprise, while Felicia Hardy had a relieved expression on her face.

**'You were saying, Sym?'** Ranma retorted with a smirk to her mental voice, just mildly irritated that her fist had blown right through Flint Marko's head instead of knocking him out cold, spraying sand fragments everywhere.

— _**That your flair for dramatics will be the death of us one of these days,**_ — Sym retorted, impossibly sounding like someone suffering from a migraine. — _**Now it would be prudent to fully concentrate on the fight. To recite a human saying, you do not have this fight in the bag, so do something to change this.**_ —

Ranma refrained from retorting seeing that a huge fist made of sand descending on the spot she was currently occupying demanded her complete attention, and hurriedly executing several backflips she brought some distance between her and Sandman. The man's fists crashed into the ground with a rocky sound, and seeing that she knew that engaging him in close combat would be utterly foolish—at least at this point in time—she opted for ranged attacks.

Sandman's predisposition for medium to long-range attacks made him a difficult opponent to fight anyway, even with utilising ranged attacks, but she'd known this beforehand. Now, before she would implement the strategy she'd come up with to—hopefully—ensure her victory she'd demonstrate just what Sable would be paying for here. **'Time to go wild,'** Ranma thought with a devilish grin, turned on her heel and jumped to the adjacent wall thirty metres away, turning invisible in mid-jump. She easily adhered to the walls' surface, and watched Flint Marco's irritated face in amusement. He'd no way of finding h—

**'Damn,'** Ranma thought, interrupting her previous line of thought as the irritated look was replaced by one of determination, **'what's he up to now? Shit!'** she yelled mentally when Sandman began to shoot beams of sand against the wall in a circular motion from both arms, prompting her to run along the wall in order to avoid being discovered. **'That's one clever move!'**

— _**Agreed. The only viable option is**_ —

**'A hit and run tactic to show my proficiency, yeah,'** Ranma finished, sounding very focussed.

— _**Indeed.**_ — Sym remarked shortly before Ranma shimmered back into existence, a swirling Tadashii fungeki already formed in her hand, her expression aggressive.

The attack was fired silently and sped towards Sandman, Ranma already having faded out of existence again, and in resuming her run along the wall the redhead observed the energy attack passing right through Flint Marko's torso with a wet sound, splattering sand all around him. He did not look amused.

-.-

Sable's eyes had widened at what she'd just witnessed, and the fact that she was on the edge of her seat spoke volumes about her level of interest in Scarlet Widow. At first she'd assumed her to be a rank amateur due to her seemingly freezing up when faced with Sandman's abilities, had thought her being able to intrude into her domicile a fluke, but now, with the abilities and level of proficiency she had just displayed her opinion had made a one-eighty.

True, Scarlet Widow's abilities were nothing that special compared to what other meta-humans and mutants had at their disposal, but the ease and proficiency with which she utilised her abilities, not to mention the facileness and precision she moved with spoke of high skill.

"Unbelievable," she heard Hobie mutter to her right, and her curiosity getting the better of her she turned her head towards her other employee.

"What is so unbelievable, Mr. Brown?" she queried, raising her eyebrows inquiringly.

Prowler turned to face her, his whole posture conveying his astonishment. "She... She just used her life energy to power that blast!" he exclaimed, gesticulating with his hands. "That's an ability almost unheard of!" he added.

"Ironfist..." Sable muttered, her eyes going wide, "Yes, I remember. He was able to use his ki as a weapon as well. And you say this blast was ki? Are you sure?" she implored intently, her interest in Scarlet Widow rising exponentially. This was getting better and better!

"Yeah, I am sure, boss," Prowler replied, slowly recomposing himself. "I can't project my ki, and I've heard it takes years if not decades to master it. This is absolutely incredible."

Sable slowly nodded her head, her eyes gaining a calculating gleam. "Agreed. Her range of abilities is impressive and would make her ideal for certain tasks—"

"Certain tasks? Like what?" Felicia interrupted with narrowed eyes, her enquiring tone holding a hard edge.

Sable met her gaze impassively. "Reconnaissance, and assassination, if necessary." she retorted calmly.

Felicia took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. "Reconnaissance, no problem. Assassination is another story. Scar has an... Interesting value system," she said enigmatically.

Upon seeing Sable's curious and encouraging look she elaborated, the fight in the arena raging on with unbridled intensity. "I doubt she'd kill people who she doesn't think deserve to die."

"I see," Sable said with an understanding nod. "Rest assured, I seldom accept assassination missions, and if I do the targets are exclusively the worst examples of human nature. So—"

"Holy shit!" Hobie exclaimed while jumping to his feet, interrupting Sable. "Wouldcha look at that!"

Two heads turned in unison, and seconds later the sound of two jaws hitting the ground simultaneously echoed through the hall.

-.-

**Two minutes earlier**

Ranma was slowly but surely arriving at the conclusion that her hit-and-run-tactic achieved nothing. Regardless how much of Flint's sandy body mass she scattered to the four winds courtesy of her energy attacks, Sandman was all too easily able to reabsorb the lost mass, leaving her back at square one.

Grumbling to herself she went through the attacks available to her, all the while showing off her spider-powers in acrobatic manoeuvres, demonstrating a flexibility no Olympic athlete could ever hope to match as she avoided Sandman's attacks. Using the Hiryu Shoten Ha was out of the question. Not only would it have little effect against a man of sand, the attack was so conspicuously unique that it probably could be traced back to the exploits of her first life. And that simply must not happen. The chestnut fist was of little use as well, which meant that now was the time to bring out the big guns.

Grimacing slightly because she knew unpleasant questions were awaiting Ranma cancelled the Umi and jumped to the ground with a double somersault, landing in a low crouch and straightening herself up lithely. "Ahh," Flint Marko exclaimed with a grin, "finally noticed that runnin' 'n' hidin' ain't gettin' ya anywhere?"

"Better," Ranma replied smoothly. "I've decided that it's time I stopped fooling around. After all, I've got places to be."

"Fooling around, eh?" Sandman queried with a smirk, his left brow raised in amusement. "I think you've finally realised thatcha can't harm me, and to save face ya wanna go down in a blaze of glory," he teased.

"Nope. I've decided to let you glimpse upon the side of me that's reserved for when I go all out," Ranma replied, her voice completely serious. "You're a big boy, I think you can handle it," she added in a teasing tone.

"Whatever. Bring it on, girlie," Sandman grunted and made a come hither motion with his engorged left hand.

"As you wish," Ranma acquiesced and let her hands fall to her sides. Seconds later her before normal looking hands began to lengthen at a rapid pace, the left arm forming a forty centimetres long broad sword while the right arm morphed into a vicious looking double-bladed battle axe; her tendrils came out of her body at the same time, swirling around her in their usual random patterns.

For added effect Ranma subjoined the black spikes on her arms she'd first used in her 'fight' against the rapists, and she couldn't help but to expel a satisfied sigh that her tendrils were getting their run once again. The redhead automatically switched her stance with a dark smirk playing on her face, albeit unseen due to her face mask, and leaned forward aggressively, both arms-turned-weapons held in a cross in front of her body.

A look at Sandman revealed that her transformation had made quite an impression, seeing that the man looked absolutely surprised. "What the fuck?" was the only question his flabbergasted mind could come up with.

The same sentiment was shared by Prowler, and, after his outburst, Silver Sable and Felicia Hardy as well.

-.-

"You sure have some explanations to give, Scar," Felicia muttered to herself and shook her head in wonder and disbelief, not caring that Prowler and Sable heard her.

The silver haired mercenary turned her head away from the temporary stalemate that had been caused by Ranma's transformation, her blue eyes meeting Felicia's green ones. "I gather you had no idea she was capable of that. Interesting," she mused, nodding when Felicia shook her head. "Weapon-forming capabilities... I wonder if it's pre-set or if she can form any weapon at will. Intriguing," she said with an almost hungry gleam in her eyes. "Most intriguing."

"Intriguing doesn't even begin to describe it," Prowler exclaimed, slowly shaking his head, his outburst causing the two women to look at him. "She's very skilled in the Art, displayed abilities similar to Spider-Man and can form weapons!" he paused. "Bless God she seems to be on our side."

"Maybe," Sable mused, her face changing to a neutral expression. "What is your opinion of things, Miss Hardy?" she queried, tilting her head back to Felicia.

Felicia's eyes lost focus for a moment as she pondered the question, then she looked the other woman straight in the eye. "I admit I haven't known Scar for very long, but I think of myself as a pretty good judge of character.

"Well, she's been through some pretty unpleasant times," she paused, her expression darkening, "happenings I can relate to, but in my opinion she'd never turn evil," she concluded.

The Symkarian mercenary kept her expression neutral. "Why do you think so?"

The Black Cat expelled a sigh as she went over what she'd gleaned of Ranma's character during the short while she'd known her. "Because I have watched her interact with an almost rape victim after she'd saved the woman. Because she protected those innocents in the bank Ock attacked, and because Jameson doesn't like her," she listed, causing the other woman to snort in amusement at the last point mentioned.

"True, Jameson is almost without fail off-kilter where spider-powered beings are concerned. Personally, I have always wondered if the man is an arachnophobic," Sable mused, her tone only half-joking. "Go on."

Felicia suppressed the smile that had bloomed on her face, her expression turning serious again. "I know that Scar's methods may be questionable, and I think how she went to town on that gang of rapists we happened to run into was downright gruelling, but she only dishes out the just desserts to those who deserve it. At least in my opinion," she finished, crossing her arms under her breasts.

Silver Sable absorbed what Felicia had just said and went over it in her mind in seconds, finally giving a nod. "Noted," she said, turning back to the fight. "I admit to being very curious to what she can do when she pulls out all the stops," she mused, rubbing her chin with her left index finger and thumb.

Felicia couldn't help but smile at the excited gleam shining in the so-controlled woman's blue eyes. It was an excitement she could easily relate to, it being shared by her, and she was literally on the edge of her seat in anticipation of the things to come.

-.-

Down below in the arena Ranma and Sandman were surveying each other, the redhead regretting that her face mask didn't convey her facial expressions at present; the smirk she was wearing ought to have been downright infuriating, but the redhead knew she had to make some concessions. Showing her 'monster visage' was out of the question, showing off the tendrils and her weapon-forming capability was more than enough of a risk.

"What's up?" Ranma asked after a full minute of silence during which Flint Marko had watched her carefully, idly morphing the tips of her tendrils into razor-sharp mini-daggers, "Cat got your tongue?"

The cheeky line seemed to raise Flint Marko out of his silent survey, and his brown eyes bore into Ranma. "So you can form weapons as well. And? Do I hafta be impressed now or what?" he asked sarcastically, raising his left brow.

"Nope. But maybe _this _will leave a lasting impression," Ranma purred and blurred forward, appearing directly in front of a startled Sandman who found himself being slashed horizontally across the midsection faster than he could track, his surprised brain only managing to sputter **'So... Fast!'** before it realised that molecular cohesion between upper and lower body had been lost.

But it didn't stop there seeing that Ranma continued her assault mercilessly, her arms-turned-weapons as well as her tendrils slashing away at Sandman's body, repeatedly tearing into it with so much force that Flint Marko's body was soon reduced to a large pile of sand. Ranma, having issued her first real demonstration—and having succeeded to impress her watchers gauging from their facial expressions—performed several quick back-flips, allowing Sandman to reform his body.

The ex-villain gnashed his teeth and looked at Ranma, who now adhered to the adjacent wall, with grudging respect. "That _was_ impressive, yeah. Not many manage to reduce me to a mere pile of sand so fast," he paused, his before serious face breaking out into a smirk, "but ya know it was a phyrric victory, eh?"

Ranma grinned behind her face mask. "So you do know big words. Good on you," she teased, causing Flint to narrow his eyes. "First off, I could go at it all day and keep on reducing you to dust," she continued smoothly, ignoring his glare, "my stamina is that good, but yes, that would be rather pointless and time-consuming seeing that you can easily reform," Ranma paused. "Second, and this is an assumption, I'm pretty sure I could wear you down stamina wise, but I ain't about to test that theory seeing that I have things to do and places to be.

"That said," she briefly rolled her neck, producing a loud crack, "be witness to a truly freezing experience."

With these words Ranma delved deeply into the Soul of Ice, literally shrouding herself in an aura of coldness to which's strength Sym's augmentation only added, and the temperature in the large hall abruptly dropped to the freezing point. The sudden coldness made Sable's and Felicia's teeth chatter—the Prowler being largely unaffected due to his insulating costume—, and vapour billowed from their mouths as they breathed.

Both women wore identical expressions of utter surprise, and exchanged a look that said 'What did she do now?'

-.-

The originator of the sudden temperature drop frowned in concentration as she adhered to the wall opposite from Sandman's position, well out of his reach for the time being. Grimacing she redirected the flow of her ki and focussed the Soul of Ice on her arms-turned-weapons. **'Your idea to add cold damage to my weap... Arms,'** she corrected herself, not realising the double meaning due to her being too preoccupied, **'was brilliant, Sym. Too bad I had to make it so freezin' cold in here.**

**'Just seeing Felicia feeling cold like that is... Dunno,'** Ranma finished, trailing off uncertainly.

— _**You can think about ways to make her feel all warm and fuzzy later, Ranma. Now concentrate on this fight, it is time to gain victory, **_— Sym spoke up, her tone lightly scolding.

Ranma flushed red in embarrassment, the innuendo Sym had just used not lost on her. **'Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!'** she saluted in her mind, her quick acquiesce being motivated by her hope Sym wouldn't tease her about her not so unromantic thoughts till Kingdom Come if she followed her symbiote's suggestions for now.

Briefly shaking her head to get her mind back into gear she concentrated on the arena, yet a split second too late seeing that she found herself being unexpectedly blasted up the wall by a strong stream of sand, and a split-second later by a second one adding to the first, the streams' intention seeming to be to drown her. **'Shit!'** Ranma complained inside her mind, the cold aura dissipating due to her lack of concentration. **'He's trying to knock me out by suffocating me. Sym—'**

— _**Already on it. Pores are closed, all foreign substances have been expelled. Combat status is optimal and will be for the next ten minutes, no damage has been sustained or is being sustained at present,**_ — Sym listed, pausing. — _**May I strongly suggest you concentrate on the battle exclusively from now on?**_ —

**'Gotcha, Sym, loud 'n' clear,'** Ranma thought back, sufficiently chastened by the scolding words.

In the seconds the conversation between host and symbiote had taken up Ranma had been flushed against the ceiling, the pressure of the incoming sand-blasts keeping her suspended against said ceiling. Despite her durability Ranma began to feel the pressure after a few moments, and growling ferally she managed to bring her arms in front of her body in a show of strength, morphing both her hands into a large red and black shield in an instant, her arms beginning to push back against the incoming sand which allowed her to get into a kneeling position while adhering to the ceiling. Ranma continued to push back, and slowly but surely she managed to gain the upper hand.

**'Damn, she's strong!' **Sandman thought as he continued to push against the unexpected resistance. **'Much stronger than Spider-Man. Just who 'n' what is she?'**

Ranma, meanwhile having pushed back enough to keep the oppressing streams of sand at bay, quickly sprinted away in a blur, her face a mask of concentration behind her face mask as she enshrouded herself in the Umi.

Sandman, who'd stopped his barrage, looked around in frustration, well-knowing that an opportunity as good as that would likely not present itself again.

-.-

Seconds thereafter the feeling of coldness enveloped the hall in its icy grip again, yet this time it seemed even stronger in intensity than before.

Ranma, having morphed her arms into long swords which she'd literally coated with the Soul of Ice, suddenly blurred back into existence due to her cold aura overloading the Umi, standing not ten metres away from Flint Marko, facing the man. "Time to end this," she intoned, her tone completely serious and focussed.

Sandman inclined his head, morphing both arms into swords as well, his face showing an expression equivalent to Ranma's tone. "Bring it on, gal," he retorted, making another come hither motion.

Ranma nodded back, and instead of exclaiming something silly like "Sandman, prepare to get trounced!" she just winked out of existence, reappearing above Sandman's head. Said Flint Marko had managed to morph his body into a wall of sand briefly prior to Ranma's disappearing act, his calculus that he'd manage to land a good punch on Ranma if he'd manage to block her attack. What he didn't expect was for Ranma to cut through his stone-hard sand like a hot knife through butter, and had Flint Marko possessed a face at that moment it would have displayed utter disbelief.

That his opponent had managed to pierce his defences wasn't what irritated him the most, though, it was the fact that his sand was reacting sluggish where Scarlet Widow had cut it. **'Damn it ta hell 'n' back, feels like she fuckin' froze the parts of my sand she cut!'**

He hastily reformed his body, the sluggish sand being used to form his right, spiked fist, keeping the molecular integrity of his remaining sand to a low density; a worried look showed in his eyes as he scanned the arena for traces of Ranma, the redhead having blurred from sight after the attack. A sizzling black and yellow beam of energy coming in from his right made his head whirl around in hopes to find her, the actual attack not bothering him due to its inability to damage him. What he didn't expect was the energy attack to be a decoy, and that being the case only dawned on him when Ranma appeared in his face from the other side, her arms-turned-weapons hacking away at him, once more reducing him to a pile of sand in seconds.

Flint Marko was beginning to reform his body like before while Ranma remained standing motionless above him, her arms crossed under her breasts as she waited. Sandman cursed like a sailor in his mind at the slowness with which his body reacted to his commands, the frown on his reformed face clearly conveying his annoyance.

His body rose and his fist flew at Ranma without warning in the same motion, yet the massive appendage only hit air as Ranma used her far superior speed to reappear behind Sandman, the blade of her left sword pressed against his hard neck. "I could do that all night until I've frozen you solid. Ya see, it takes temperatures of 3400 degrees Fahrenheit and more to turn sand into glass, but why bother when ya can freeze it so much easier? Endgame," she purred, reforming her arms to normal fast as lightning, her webbing being fired from both web nozzles and encasing Sandman before the man had a chance to react.

"I know you could get outta this sooner rather than later, Flint, but I don't wanna resort to more drastic means to prove myself, 'cause I think I already did," Ranma said, dusting herself off. With a thought she let the webbing dissolve. "Whatcha say, nuff fighting for today?"

Flint's fist soared forward in reply, surprising Ranma who'd lowered her guard. But to her immense surprise said fist only bopped her lightly on the nose, her surprised gaze meeting Sandman's mischievous eyes. "I say you're as annoying as Spider-Man, but I like yer attitude. Good fight, gal," he exclaimed, retracting his fist.

Ranma grinned behind her face mask while she returned her combat-suit to its normal Scarlet Widow look. "Not half bad yourself, man. Not half bad."

-.-

Walking back to the stands while talking shop about the fight Ranma mentally prepared herself for the questions to come, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. She was particularly worried about Felicia's reaction, and couldn't help but to chew on her lower lip. Had her display scared away the one who'd been the first person to treat her normally for the first time in almost eight months? Had she just lost a friend, potentially even more?

The rational part of her mind piped up and opined that Felicia wouldn't be worthy to be called a friend if her relation to Venom turned out to be reason enough to shun her, and strongly proclaimed that she'd be better off without her if that scenario became reality.

Ranma frowned softly, a myriad of emotions flashing across her face, fortunately unseen by all. While her intellect was essentially correct it would hurt nonetheless. The way the Cat and she had interacted, from how Felicia had given her a piece of her mind to the enjoyable forays, it had build hopes, and it'd be quite a blow should these turn out to be deceitful hopes.

She scowled behind her face mask while making trivial small-talk with Flint Marko. Felicia had managed to bypass her defences, had managed to crack her ice armour, essentially giving her the power to hurt her. She had no idea what she'd do, how she'd react should Felicia betray her in the same way a certain girl had done in another life, and Ranma didn't even pretend to be prepared in case the other shoe decided to drop.

She could hardly even admit it to herself, but she was, despite all her powers, vulnerable, downright emotionally fragile, and she loathed that feeling with every fibre of her being. Felicia and Sym had been right, though, she had to put some faith into her fellow human beings at some point, but now that she had done so she couldn't help but to ask herself if it hadn't been too early, and, more important, if it had been the right decision.

Either way, it was time to face the music, Ranma thought as they made toward the Symkarian mercenary and the fellow super heroes.

-.-

Silver Sable, Prowler and Felicia met them halfway to the stands, Sable coming to a stop twenty centimetres away from the combatants, her expression pleased, her arms crossed. Ranma's gaze travelled over Sable and Prowler briefly, her mind filing away that the mercenary looked rather pleased for later thought as well as the fact that Prowler's body language revealed that he was impressed before coming to rest on the Black Cat.

Felicia's expression showed a mixture of elation and barely repressed curiosity, and Ranma was relieved, even happy to see not even a hint of accusation in her eyes, fact that eased her worries to some degree. It seemed her worries had indeed been for naught.

— _**To be honest, I did not understand why you were worried in the first place seeing that you only had vague notions of how Felicia Hardy might react, but I decided to keep quiet seeing that there was no productive way for you to spend your nervous energy,**_ — Sym piped up, — _**You must stop making assumptions based on incomplete data, though, but that seems to be an uphill battle,**_ — the symbiote added, giving the mental equivalent of a sigh.

**'I prefer much ado 'bout nothing to the alternative any day,'** Ranma replied with a slight smile, **'To worry 'bout things, even 'illogical things' we can't even hope to change is just human nature, Sym. That's just the way we are,'** she explained with a mental shrug.

— _**I do not even pretend to understand what makes you humans 'tick' as they say, and any attempt to unravel this mystery is likely futile and a waste of valuable mental resources,**_ — Sym sighed. — _**Let us just forget about it and concentrate on the questions that are likely to come,**_ —

**'Agreed,'** Ranma replied, smiling softly, her amusement stemming from the fact that human nature was apparently enough to give even an alien symbiote a headache.

Still smiling behind her face mask Ranma returned her gaze to Sable who got ready to speak, and the redhead was yet again glad that mental conversations with Sym were normally over in the blink of an eye.

"Well fought," Sable exclaimed, her expression of satisfaction only increasing, "the both of you.

"Now," she continued after Sandman and Ranma had nodded their thanks, her face and voice gaining a serious quality, "before we retire to my office to begin contract negotiations I'd like to ask a few questions pertaining your abilities."

Ranma inclined her head, her posture relaxing. "Fire away." she said, and sat down on the ground in a cross-legged position after muttering "This is bound to take a while."

This prompted Sandman to form chairs made of sand—more precisely, comfortable looking executive arm chairs patterned after Silver Sable's very own—for the others which he arranged in a semi-circle, plopping down into his own arm chair to Ranma's left. Sable, Prowler and Felicia gladly plopped down into the malleable seats—with the Cat taking up the chair to the Ranma's right—and made themselves at home, each of the four looking at Ranma with barely veiled curiosity, waiting for the redhead to begin her tale.

"I'm certain that my friend the milk-addict here," Ranma finally spoke up and waved her right hand at Felicia, taking secret delight in the fact that the Black Cat looked first astounded then joyous at having been called a friend, "is dying to get certain answers too."

Wiping the grin from her face Felicia nodded. "You betcha, Scar. For one, was what you showed us the true extent of what you can do? Secondly, do you have any relation to Venom? I mean, come on, the tendrils... Weapons... They made you look like you were Venom V.2, only female and good, for cryin' out loud!" she exclaimed, pausing to take a deep breath while putting her hands on her hips.

Ranma growled mentally due to being compared to Venom despite having expected this question, but if anyone was allowed to draw this comparison it would be Felicia, the one who'd been blunt with her when she'd needed it, the one who was rapidly becoming her first real friend, aside from Sym.

Yet before she could reply Sable laughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention. "That nicely summed up what I was going to ask. What I'd like to know in addition to that, was that your ki you used when you fired that energy attack at Mr. Marko?" she inquired, her blue eyes gleaming curiously.

"Ki?" Flint Marko piped up, his face sporting a confused look. "What's that?"

"Basically your life energy, Flint," Prowler explained, foregoing his silence for the time being. "True masters of the Art can, after prolonged training, wield their ki as a weapon. Much as I assume Scarlet Widow here did," he finished, crossing his arms again.

"Right on the dot, Mr. Brown," Ranma commented with an inclination of her head, a small grin playing on her face.

"Damn," Sandman breathed, an awed expression appearing on his face as he understood the implications of Prowler's explanation. "That's neat."

"You can say that again," Felicia snorted, she not being the only one to wonder if and how it'd be possible to acquire such skills in an impossibly short-seeming amount of time as Scarlet Widow's apparent age suggested. "You must be a freakin' martial arts prodigy, Scar."

"Indeed. Seeing that you don't strike me as being older than twenty, twenty-five tops Miss Hardy's assessment is spot on," Sable mused, her blue eyes narrowing. "I wonder why we've never heard of someone of your skills before."

Ranma, feeling very relieved that neither the questions asked nor the attitudes exhibited were hostile in nature allowed a smile to cross her features. "In order? Okay. No, Felicia, that was not the true extent of my abilities. I've several aces up my sleeve I might be forced to reveal in due time, that and I barely showed a fraction of my true physical strength. According to my estimations I should be able to lift round about seventy tonnes, maybe more."

Low whistling echoed through the arena. "Damn, you weren't joking when you said you could've grounded Spidey into paste. I'm glad you've decided to go easy on him should you clash again," Felicia exclaimed, barely concealed relief showing in her green eyes.

Sandman scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Regardless if ya go easy on him or not, the lil bug always manages to survive. He's like a friggin roach."

Felicia scowled at him. "I'll have you know that he's quite okay. I for one wouldn't be sitting here today without him, and wouldn't that be a shame?" she queried, giving Sandman a look coupled with a batting of her lashes that would have melted a heart of flint.

"We digress, ladies," Sable spoke up. "I take it you're up to prove your claim later on?" she asked Ranma, taking a more practical approach than Felicia before her. "I like to be informed of the capabilities of my employees in order to not over- or underestimate them in the missions I pick for them," she explained, shrugging.

"Makes sense," Ranma retorted, mirroring Sable's shrug. "'Course I'm up to it. Just tell me when and where, I'll be there.

"Gah, that sounded sooo fuckin' corny." she chastened herself, causing several sweatdrops and snorts of amusement. "Meh, must be 'cause it's getting late. That, or I'm losing my touch.

"Anyway," she continued, her concentration fully back on the matters at hand, "on with the questions. Am I related to Venom? Yes," that admission set everyone instantly on guard, "though not to Eddie Brock. So no need to fear I'm his crazy daughter pretending to be a hero so that I can murder you all in your sleep."

"No worries there," Sable chuckled, leaning back in her chair. "My information network is very good, almost second to none, I'd know if Brock had a daughter, or even a son, running around. So, if not Eddie Brock is your relation, then I assume Ms. Hardy here hit it right on the dot when she speculated about your tendrils and weapons?"

"Yeah, I am host to an alien symbiote much like Eddie Brock," she explained with a lazy wave of her hand, making it sound as if she were talking about the weather, the apprehensive looks the others were sporting being like water off a ducks' back to her due to the fact that at least Felicia looked open-minded. "How this came about is related to my proficiency in the Art," she exclaimed, causing intrigued expressions to appear on the others' faces. "You see, I trained in the Art since I could walk alongside my big bro, travelling the world with a now deceased relative of ours to learn as much as there is to martial arts.

"Thus, after a long journey we ended up back in America, and I thought to myself 'What the heck, a vacation is long overdue for ya.' and convinced my bro to tag along. I fully intended to head to Florida. Cliché, cliché, I know," she amended at seeing their looks, "but it is nice 'n' warm there, they have cool beaches, and I wanted to feel some sun on my skin, wanted to get a breather after nothing but training all my life. Then a certain someone ran into us and dropped a little surprise on me while we were passing through New York, shooting all my plans to hell."

"Lemme guess..." Sandman spoke up, "Venom."

"Yeah. 'Twas really strange. I mean, I'd heard about Venom and him being as bad as they come, but he saved me from a super-powered nutcase that had escaped from Ryker's a while ago in that mass outbreak. Beat the guy into making a hasty retreat when not even my bro could do much of anything 'n' saved me from a fate worse than death," she said, her voice inflected by dark and authentic emotions drawing everyone in.

"So that's what happened." Felicia breathed, her voice holding understanding. "No wonder you were still shaken up. But I don't regret telling you off. You needed that, or that pity party you were indulging in woulda destroyed you. And I can't let that happen to a friend," she concluded with a sincere smile.

Ranma smiled as well behind her face mask. "Thanks, kitty. I mean that," she muttered just loud enough to be heard. "But now let's get back to the story before we get all sappy."

"Fat chance of that happening," Sandman snorted good-naturedly. "I'm way too manly to get sappy."

Ranma shook her head in silent amusement, "I won't bother giving the remark that's on the tip of my tongue," she snorted, her snort not the only one. "Be it as it is," she continued, ignoring Sandman's indignant "Hey!", "the funny thing is that there's at least one other like me running around. Namely my big bro, who calls himself Chaos. Dunno how or why, but a second symbiote-offspring must have entered my bro's body when Venom helped him to his feet.

"I know, that sounds like something out of a fantasy novel," she amended, causing several heads to nod, "but this," she held out her right arm and formed a halberd, "is no fantasy."

Curt nods followed this statement as Ranma morphed her hand back to normal, and silence reigned for a few moments until Sable spoke up. "So you and your brother trained all your lives... How many DAN rankings do you hold?" she queried.

"None that are official. Though I could attain master level in at least five or six if I were so inclined," Ranma mused, "even without Sym augmenting my abilities."

"Impressive," Sable replied with an outward nod, though inwardly she was disappointed that Scarlet Widow hadn't given away any useful information that could have led to the uncovering of her identity.

"Sym?" Prowler had queried at the same time, his tone curious.

"That's my nick for my symbiote. Would be kinda troublesome if I'd always call her 'symbiote'. And to answer your next question, Sym has no gender in that sense, but I've taken to call her 'her' 'cause she's bonded herself to me, a female." **'Much as I call Sym a 'him' when I'm male,'** she added mentally. "Was kinda strange to call Sym an 'it' all the time. She's helped me a lot, and I'll be damned being impersonal to a friend," Ranma concluded, crossing her arms under her breasts for emphasis.

— _**Even if your statement is inflected with overly human emotions, I do thank you, Ranma. It is nice to be regarded a friend, **_— Sym replied, and the redhead thought her symbiote's voice had sounded... soft there for a moment.

**'You're welcome, Sym,'** she replied, her mental voice holding the equivalent of a smile.

"That makes sense, I guess," Prowler admitted, nodding, his sentiment being shared by the others as well. "So, in essence you harbour an alien symbiote much like Venom's, making you what, a good Venom?"

Ranma gnashing her teeth showed that this was a touchy subject. "I do not, I repeat, do not want to be compared to him," she snarled at Prowler, her cold, sibilant tone chilling everyone. "He may have saved me, may have given me great power, even if inadvertently, but fact remains that he'd murder me at the drop of a hat if it would give him a shot at Spider-Man!

"The fight my bro had with Venom shortly after Spider-Man saved Ock proved it beyond a doubt. Brock is so obsessed with getting revenge and killing Spider-Man that it has driven him over the edge; I am nothing like him," she spat, her tone fiery, "if I kill it is those who truly deserve it."

"Okay, okay," Prowler relented, holding up his hands, "no offence intended. Just curious."

The ex-Saotome inclined her head, and Sable, seeing a chance to get an insight into the redhead's value system, voiced a question. "And who deserves it?" she queried, her face carefully neutral.

Ranma swivelled her head to look at Sable. "Those who force themselves on others," she growled, the icy inflection of her voice conveying whom she was referring to. "Those, who are rotten to the core, 'fine' examples of humanity turned awry like Ock, Bullseye and many others. My philosophy in dealing with them is quite simple: if they attack or endanger me, my friends or innocents they end up toasted or sliced to bits. No mercy, no second chance, no questions asked," she concluded coldly.

"And what about the most commonly used argument that killing the bad guys would make you as bad as them?" Sable inquired calmly.

"Mere semantics," Ranma scoffed derisively. "Yes, I dirty my hands, but the bottom line is that there are individuals in this world that plain simple deserve to die, the types of individuals I listed only bein' the most deservin'.

"Don't get me wrong," she continued after sorting her thoughts, "I don't take pleasure in the act of killin', far from it, but I won't lose sleep over killin' those that deserve death. Does that make me a bad person?" she asked, shrugging, "Honestly, I don't care, just as little as I care 'bout what you or other people think of my views. In the end it's my choice if I kill the target or not, I gotta live with the consequences regardless if it was the right choice or not. Nobody else."

"I see," Sable nodded with a speculative gleam in her eyes while Sandman muttered something about 'badass attitude'. "I'd suggest we relocate to my office to finalise things." she paused, getting up. "If you'd follow me..."

Ranma and Felicia looked at each other and got up at the same time, both women feeling satisfied with how things had turned out. It had been a productive day indeed.

-.-

Half an hour and some tough negotiations later—with their sneak performance indeed having improved their bargaining position—Ranma and Felicia were back to swinging through the mazes of concrete that were New York's streets, both women enjoying the refreshing night air. The perpetual-seeming rain from before had finally stopped, and a chilling east wind had blown away the clouds that had hidden the stars from view, creating a truly beautiful sight.

Ranma smiled softly behind her face mask as she looked up at the night-sky before concentrating on what was ahead of her and firing her webbing. She could hardly believe that it was only about midnight what with all the things that had happened today, and briefly frowned when she remembered that she couldn't call it a night just yet. Happosai would stop by at her home in under an hour, and it was safe to assume he wouldn't leave easily. **'The sacrifices I make...'** she thought, giving a tired mental sigh.

"Not that I don't enjoy the swing, Scar," Felicia spoke up, breaking into her thoughts, "but you're awfully quiet."

Ranma smiled at the obvious concern in her friends' voice. "'S nothing. Just reflecting on the day's happenings. But thanks for asking. How about I getcha home now? I'm certain a kitty such as you needs her beauty sleep, especially considering we have our first mission tomorrow." she teased.

Felicia's reply, consisting of a string of curse words, caused Ranma to erupt in gales of laughter with Felicia soon joining in, the melodious sounds echoing through the air as the two friends swung through the night.

**to be continued**...

Some quick notes:

– I'd have liked to get a bit deeper into Happosai's involvement as well as the impending first mission Ranma and Felicia have been tasked with, but the getting into the embassy part as well as the fight got away with me. Don't think anyone will mind.

– Felicia has indeed managed to get through to Ranma, and it was important to me to include these scenes as they will lead to character development. Ranma's attitude towards relationships will slowly but surely change, allowing for a relationship between them. Thus the pairing should be obvious now. Ranma and Felicia will hook up eventually, though it's gonna be a rocky road to travel till that happens.

– Ranma's strength level: as stated in the chapter, Ranma's symbiote enhanced strength enables her to lift round about seventy tonnes. The male form is a bit stronger, bringing it up to seventy-five tonnes, give or take. That may seem a wee bit much, but keep in mind that A) Cletus Kassidy, a normal, untrained human—or should that be undertrained, gauging from his looks—was able to lift fifty and more tonnes with the symbiote enhancing him, making Ranma, considering his/her training unlikely stronger, and B) that this strength level isn't that much in the Marvel 'verse what with true muscle men and women like Hulk and She-Hulk, the Thing, Juggernaut and the fruck knows who running around.

– I googled and found out that there is a Starbucks chain store at 52nd and Seventh nowadays. I have no idea if the store had opened back in 1995, but I'll assume for the sake of the story that it had. If this is inaccurate, my bad.

– I wasn't able to find a description of the layout of the Symkarian embassy, which is why I made up my own. If anyone has an accurate description, feel free to notify me; it'd be greatly appreciated.

– for those interested, more of my comments as well as the answers to the questions that have been asked in your reviews can be found at my yahoo group (just click the homepage link on my profile).

Thank you for reading.

**Thanks to my prereaders JohnnyG and Ord! **

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

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	9. The pain of loss

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 9: The pain of loss**

A darkly clothed figure moving about New York's skyline nigh soundlessly and imperceptibly fired her webbing for the seemingly umpteenth time in the last few hours, the said person being completely oblivious to the sounds and sights of the lively nightlife that permeated the Big Apple. As she swung into the 56th Street the said person known to the public as Scarlet Widow couldn't help but feel happy that she'd finally reached her destination, seeing that she was practically dead on her feet. Home, sweet home indeed, a safe haven to some, a 'castle' to others, to her the provider of a comfy bed, that being all that really mattered to her at the moment.

The redhead, having changed her costume to a pitch-black colour after bringing Felicia to her doorstep to go as unnoticed as possible, expelled a tired sigh as she touched down on the rooftop of her flat, taking a deep breath of the cool, still somewhat rain-laden night air in an attempt to ward off the bone-deep tiredness that permeated her body. The previous day—only having ended about one hour ago—had taken a lot out of her, the fight with Sandman in particular, yet the luxury of sleep remained out of her grasp for now.

Happosai would want to know everything, the whole bloody truth and nothing but the truth, that much she had gleaned during their brief, impromptu meeting. Truth be told, she couldn't really fault him; had someone she'd thought dead and buried appeared out of the blue alive, well and mysteriously changed she'd have been dying to get the full story as well.

Had she known just how tiring the day would turn out to be she'd have rescheduled the meeting, though. She was about to expel another sigh, but Sym unexpectedly speaking up in an urgent tone stopped her short. — _**Form a shield the size you used against Sandman. Do it now!**_ —

Too baffled to do anything but comply Ranma morphed her hands into a shield of round about one metre in diameter, and no sooner had she done so than a muffled impact registered against the hastily formed barrier.

"Oww, oww, owwie," a rasping and withered voice complained from the ground, and Ranma's eyes narrowed in irritation, for she knew that voice all too well.

"Happi," she growled, her enhanced vision allowing her to see the downed form of the ancient pervert clearly, he being sprawled on his back, a rather large lump growing on his forehead, "I'm not in the fuckin' mood for this," and added **'Thanks for the warning, Sym, must be more tired than I thought if he managed to launch a sneak-attack without my notice,'** mentally.

— _**You are welcome, Ranma,**_ — Sym calmly replied.

The shield seemed to melt away, leaving her hands returned to normal, which enabled her to pick up the dizzy Grandmaster by the scruff of his neck. Without wasting a second tendrils shot out from her right arm to bind him tightly, and before Happosai knew what was happening Ranma had already opened the skylight and had landed lightly in the guest room below, carrying him under her left arm.

The redhead moved Happosai in front of her face, and let her facemask fade away to reveal her clearly annoyed visage, the angry, narrowed eyes set in said face boring into him like twin lasers. "This is not Nerima, Happi, and despite your attempts at bailing me out, I ain't gonna tolerate..."

— _**Will not tolerate, Ranma. Do not let your command of the English language slip, for it will reflect back on me,**_ — Sym chided.

**'Don't care, am chewin' the old perv out but good here!'** Ranma shot back, maintaining the steely glare with which she'd nailed Happosai.

"... Your shit. I'm more than capable of backing up my words, and should you try to feel me up while I'm asleep or should you try some other shit there'll be true, utter hell to pay," she hissed, her eyes narrowed to slits, the fact that her left arm formed different, imposing weapons at random completely escaping her notice. "The indignation with which I reacted before is nothing to the righteous fury with which I'll trash you upon future infractions. Got me?" she snarled, dropping the old pervert unceremoniously onto the ground with a cold and unforgiving look adorning her face.

The downed, wide-eyed Grandmaster, having been thrown for a loop by Ranma's surprising and impressive—read downright frightening—capability to form very lethal looking weapons, nodded his head so fervently that one wondered how it remained attached to his shoulders due to the forces exuded, and faster than one could blink Happosai was in a flawless execution of one of his pupil's signature stance. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he chanted, crouched low in the aptly named Crouch of the Wild Tiger.

Ranma's fury evaporated to be replaced by utter annoyance, and the redhead slapped her forehead. She scoffed with a shake of her head after exclaiming a soft "Pathetic" and walked towards the door, her combat-suit reforming into a pair of faded blue jeans and a comfortable black hoodie sweater, Ranma not looking back if the pervert followed her or not, and not really caring either. A full-blown frown marred her features as she descended the stairs. "And I'd thought I'd left shit like that behind... Stupid, naive me," she grumbled, her bare feet leading her towards the kitchen.

Muttering curse words under her breath that would have made hardened sailors blush the redhead opened the fridge and helped herself to a decent sized midnight snack consisting of leftovers from two days before, piled it on a plate and used the microwave to reheat it. After waiting for the timer to count down to the time she had specified Ranma retrieved her plate, and walked towards the living room.

Still grumbling, this time about stupid old perverts who served to distract her so much that she'd forgotten to change into a man in the kitchen she placed her late-night dinner and the cutlery she'd fetched while waiting for the food to be reheated on the telephone-desk and entered the guest bathroom, her first action being to open the faucet and switch it to warm. After a few seconds of patient waiting she held her left hand under the steady stream of warm water, inducing an instant gender change that swept through her being, complete with underwear adaptation courtesy of Sym, leaving her a him.

Ranma looked into the mirror above the sink, his slightly grinning face looking back at him. Yeah, he thought with a pleased nod, it was time for some 'guy time', and heaven help whom- or whatever that tried to change him back within the next few hours. Grunting in satisfaction he left the guest bathroom, picked up his food and headed for the living room.

"I see you've made yourself at home," he commented upon entering the room, his gaze falling upon Happosai who'd opted to make himself comfortable on the smaller sofa, "if you want anything to eat or drink feel free to raid the fridge. Kitchen's down the corridor, can't miss it," he added neutrally, his mood now a bit better due to being back to being a guy during his allocated 'guy-time' as well as the good-smelling, steaming plate filled with his favourite foods in his hands.

Happosai eyed Ranma carefully with his huge black eyes for a few moments during which he drank in said young man's changes before nodding, and jumped down from the sofa he'd been sitting on. "Thank you, m'boy. I appreciate it," he replied and walked out of the room, the patting of his feet the only sound audible in the flat.

Ranma allowed a small smile to cross his features, placed the plate onto the wooden living-room table that stood around the corner to the right side, adjacent to the door, walked over to the cupboard to retrieve a table mat, set the table, sat down on one of the four cushioned wooden chairs and began to wolf down the food in a fast yet well-mannered manner. He was already halfway finished when the microwave binged, and about a minute later Happosai returned with a plate of his own and a large glass of water.

The latter made Ranma narrow his eyes in suspicion, but he suppressed said suspicions for the time being and waved his hand at the cupboard behind the Grandmaster's back. "Table mats are in there. Help yourself," he said after chewing and swallowing.

Happosai eyed Ranma for a few moments during which he weighed the pros and cons of arguing with the young man about being a proper host, but having witnessed what this new Ranma was capable of he chose to swallow his pride just this once. Nodding shortly he got up from his cushioned wooden chair and fetched a table mat for himself, placed the plate onto the table mat and grabbed the filled-to-the-brim glass of water.

"Don't even think about trying to induce the gender change," Ranma growled as soon as Happosai had extended his hand, his icy blue eyes narrowed, his expression downright chilling, "I have ways to counter it, and the penance would be draconian. Got me?" he queried in a tone that brooked no argument.

Happosai tried to look innocent, and foregoing that due to it failing utterly tried to utilise the infamous puppy-dog eyes, which quickly faltered under the arctic glare Ranma bestowed upon him. Defeated and knowing it, the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes nodded his head. "Gotcha," he replied, reached for fork and knife and began to eat, showing a remarkable aptitude at handling the western cutlery that surprised Ranma for a few moments. It had taken him quite some time to get used to using forks and knives, not to mention to attain an average level of proficiency where handling them was concerned, but taking Happosai's age into account his dexterity pertaining to the handling of foreign cutlery was unsurprising.

Schooling his features back into impassivity he resumed his meal, which was from then on spent in companionable silence, the clinking and scraping of forks and knives the only sounds in the large living room. Ranma unsurprisingly finished first, wiped his mouth with a napkin and excused himself for the kitchen, from which he fetched himself a large carton of apple juice, guzzling down half the carton's contents in the kitchen already which made him realise he'd been a lot thirstier than thought. Smiling sheepishly at having forgotten to eat and drink along the way during the course of the previous day he fetched himself a glass from one of the cabinets, grabbed the carton and rejoined Happosai.

The old man had finished his meal in the meantime as well, and upon sitting down in front of him Ranma sensed that the pervert was literally bursting at the seams with questions. Suppressing a smile he locked eyes with Happosai, and after helping himself to some more apple juice Ranma opened his mouth and began to weave his tale in all its uncensored glory.

-.-

Happosai literally looked ready to fall out of his chair by the time Ranma had finished his tale. The old pervert jumped smoothly to his feet and started to pace, his eyes narrowed in a very serious looking face as he muttered to himself. "A miracle he didn't break... Almost raped... Raped... Boy," he turned around to face Ranma, who'd watched in silence from his chair, "I commend you to your self-restraint. Had it been me that had happened to I'd have killed the bastard. And the guard," he groused darkly.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Ranma admitted, the hateful expression that briefly crossed his features proving just how serious he was, "but what ruled me after Sym and me had bonded was the want to get away from that hell-hole at all costs. You have no idea just how bad it was, Happi," the expression in his eyes spoke volumes, "and I pray you never will. No one but the worst of what humanity has spawned deserves to be locked away at Ryker's. No one."

"Which is why you want to get back at those who abandoned you when you'd have needed them most," Happosai mused, nodding his head slowly, resuming this line of thought upon Ranma's nod. "I admit I didn't—and still don't—understand why they were so quick to believe you capable of these crimes."

"Their reasons don't matter to me. All that counts is _that _they threw me away like an old cloth," Ranma retorted coldly, his face displaying unforgiving anger. "I will neither forgive nor forget their actions, ever."

"Absolutely understandable. What of your long-term plans, though? Surely you _have _plans aside from me making their lives a living hell," Happosai mused, lighting his pipe he had produced from somewhere.

Ranma's expression changed from being pleased that the Grandmaster saw eye to eye with him to cold ruthlessness, the temperature in the room seeming to drop with his change of mood. "Sym had some pretty good ideas, and even though they're indeed long term and require devotion on my part," he briefly shuddered when his thoughts stumbled over the 'sacrifices' he'd have to make, "I'm willing to do anything that's needed to put 'em into practice. I will get my revenge and put _them _into their place, this I swear, and I never go back on my word."

Happosai made an impatient sound and blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth. "Don't keep me in suspense, boy. Spill!"

"Well," Ranma drawled amusedly, drawing out this one word upon this confirmation that the old pervert was indeed eager to find out what he'd planned for _them_, which caused Happosai to glare and the younger man to grin, "if I want to get back at _them_," he inflected this single word with so much venom that Happosai very nearly flinched, "I have to meet several conditions: A)," he ticked off his left thumb, "I have to clear my name and keep the news from reaching _them_," he stated and paused to collect himself, "How I'll go about that I don't know yet."

"Maybe I can be of help in that regard," Happosai mused and took a long drag from his pipe, Ranma looking at him incredulously, "but more to that later," he concluded after having exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Ranma shrugged and picked up where he'd left off. "B)," the left index finger followed, "I have to have success in life so that I can rub it in once I meet _them _again. Sym recommended me taking up studies in economics to market products related to my spider-powers, more precisely my webbing, but he didn't give me any details; said I should find a way to take up my studies and gain a degree first."

"Very interesting," Happosai mused and took a long drag from his pipe, slowly exhaling the smoke through his nose. "But while it's true that your male form is American, I doubt you've the necessary graduation diploma. So, how do you want to go about applying to university?" the old man queried, taking another quick drag from his pipe.

"That's a problem alright," Ranma admitted, pausing to gulp down some apple juice, "a problem on which I've dwelled."

"I still am not used to hearing you speak so... sophisticated. It's so... unlike you." Happosai muttered, shaking his head slowly while exhaling smoke from his nostrils.

Ranma smiled wryly, "Maybe for my old self, Happi. But this is the new me, and I'm thankful for what Sym did for me. If speaking in a way that people easily understand makes me stand out less it's okay by me," he explained evenly. "I can already see _their _stupid faces when I talk to them like that," he mused with a smirk, only to school his features back into impassivity. "But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Sym and me have discussed it, and came to the conclusion that I'll have to go to school, in female form," he continued, his face displaying mild distaste. "It's not so much going as a girl that irks me, but the fact that I'll have to go to school again. But-"

"If you want to be successful in life you have to swallow the bitter pill from time to time, Ranma," the old pervert intoned sagely. "Sure, you could have the documents forged, but that could backfire spectacularly, especially considering that you'll be up against Nabiki Tendo eventually. You know as much as I do just how much of a Pit Bull she can be."

"Don't mention that bitch's name in my presence," Ranma snarled coldly, his blue eyes two chips of ice. "In fact, don't mention any of _them _by name. _They _don't deserve that much respect or recognition."

"Hate her all you want, hate them all you want," Happosai retorted calmly, not affected by Ranma's outburst, "but keep in mind how dangerous Nabiki Tendo is. The others are of minor concern and will most likely be inconsequential to your plans, but not so this sharp young woman. Plan carefully and cover your back, or she will be your undoing," he mused, taking another long drag.

— _**As odd as this Grandmaster of your style may seem, his analysis is correct. Do not let your feelings, as justified as they are, blind you, or it might indeed cause our downfall. **_

— _**I do not mention it often, but as much as it is my chosen task to aid you in what you do, it is just as much your task to ensure our mutual safety. Do keep that in mind,**_ — Sym commented, his tone completely serious.

"Noted," Ranma grumbled in reply to both Happosai and Sym, schooling his face back into neutrality with difficulty. "To get back on track," he coughed to clear his throat, "I have my ways to set up an identity for my female form, and I'll likely do it soon. Can't tell you more 'cause I still have to flesh out the details."

"You have become more cautious, m'boy," Happosai commented, rubbing his chin with his left hand while taking a long drag from his pipe, "and I can only recommend to stay true to this path.

"Never let your guard down," he paused to exhale smoke from his nostrils, his gaze unfocussing while he reminisced, "it cost me ten years of my life, and you—"

"Yeah? What about me, old man?" Ranma challenged, eyes flashing.

"... Your innocence, Ranma," Happosai whispered sadly, almost inaudible.

The old pervert sighed and locked eyes with Ranma, whose own eyes showed barely concealed surprise. "People like us aren't meant to be locked away in tight confines, we need our space, need to move about as freely as the wind," Happosai continued before Ranma had regained his equilibrium, the old man's gaze losing nothing of its intensity. "Locking us away is the worst punishment to be bestowed upon us, wouldn't you agree, m'boy?"

Ranma's anger flared up, burning away the remnants of his surprise in an instant, "Yes," he growled, lacing this single word with so much venom it was a small wonder no sizzling holes appeared in the carpet.

Happosai nodded sagely, "Do you know why I didn't go medieval on Genma and Soun after I had regained my freedom?" he queried, not breaking the gaze.

"To be honest, I'd wondered," Ranma admitted, scratching the left side of his head. "Had it been me they'd tried to bomb into the afterlife I'd have paid them back in kind."

"Yes, yes," Happosai nodded, an amused glint shining in his eyes, "and I'd have done it, hadn't it been for you."

"Me?" Ranma queried in surprise, leaning back in his chair.

"You," Happosai confirmed, nodding slowly. "My plan was to ruin their finances first, which went off without a hitch. The next step was, or rather would have been to disgrace them through my superior skills and, err, questionable behaviour, me being the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes after all and it reflecting back on the schools and my 'students', but imagine my surprise when a redhaired lil firecracker stood up to me," he said wryly, his eyes glittering in amusement as he indulged in reminiscences.

"Lil firecracker, eh?" Ranma queried with a raised brow, a small grin tugging at his lips. "Well, I s'pose I was a handful,"

"Can say that again, m'boy. Even though you didn't stand a snowballs' chance in hell against me you tried aynway, absolutely refusing to give up, and that intrigued me. That you overcame the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion," here Ranma scowled darkly, unsurprisingly, "proved that you were worthy to become my heir. The victories you achieved over Herb and Saffron only cemented that."

Ranma's angry expression vanished and he actually smiled in reminiscence, sighing wistfully. "Those were the days," he said softly, before schooling his features back into impassivity. "But we're not here to dwell on the past, even though it can teach us a few things."

"What do you mean?" Happosai asked, taking another drag from his pipe.

"I like the approach you used pertaining the Tendos, and I'd like you to take up where you left off for starters. Cripple their finances, destroy their reputation, expose their flaws, and all that without resorting to—overly much—physical violence," Ranma listed, his grin wolfish, "Your reason? They turned on your one true heir when he'd have needed them most. That will throw them back but good, and once you're done having your fun with 'em you can, dunno, proclaim they're not worth your time and leave Nerima with intent to find yourself a new heir. Me," he smirked, malevolence playing in his eyes.

"A plan worthy of my old and new heir," Happosai replied after briefly mulling it over, slowly nodding his head. "And how about we let Herb know that you've passed away, that'll probably lure him to Nerima. Considerin' the kids' attitude things are likely to boil over," he suggested.

**'Revealing myself to him was the best idea ever,'** Ranma thought while nodding thoughtfully. "I like it. Herb may be an arrogant royal asshole, but I think he respected me there at the end. Based on that I'd say he'd defend the rep of a warrior he respects—that being me in this case—and if they act like they usually do Herb will likely blow his top and knock them down a few more pegs, especially if a certain someone" he raised his left eyebrow which caused Happosai to smile slightly in understanding, "dares to talk down to him 'cause of his Nyannichuan curse.

"Considerin' we blew up Mt. Horaisan when we got down to the nitty gritty not a fuckin' stone will be left standin' of the Tendo dojo," he spat the name like a curse, "when Herb is through with 'em. Just think, the oh so precious dojo will be no more. Poor, poor waterworks," he sighed in a fake-pitying tone, this time causing Happosai to laugh a short, barking laugh, "With you gone and the tornado by the name of Herb havin' plowed through they'll think they're safe, and then, a few years later it'll be my turn to deal the crippling blow when they least expect it."

"Now that's positively evil, m'boy," the older man mused, his face sporting a growing grin, "I like it."

"Yeah, I can just picture it," Ranma grinned, his imagination running rampant, "me 'n' my attorneys dealing with the Tendos in my office, one of them secretly capturing everything on film how that middle girl threatens and tries to blackmail me and how the youngest practices her violent streak on me; bestowing upon them what they deserve in using their own fatal flaws against them, nothing more, nothing less will be my revenge," he concluded coldly. "I absolutely won't dirty my hands, they're not worth the bother."

Happosai blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth, nodding slowly. "That is a sound strategy. And just think," an evil gleam appeared in his eyes, "provided a war chest that's big enough you could even open up an Anything Goes dojo in Nerima with my full backing. Soun could bitch and moan all he wanted, he couldn't do a thing.

"And even taking Nabiki's activities to keep the dojo afloat into account, and even considering that my worthless student might take on students—which I severely doubt—they could kiss their asses good bye." he concluded.

"I'd never have thought I'd say that, but I like the way you think," Ranma mused with a nasty grin, Happosai mirroring him. "So in short, I'll have to get the best available education—"

"And an ID for your beautiful female form," Happosai interjected, grinning lecherously.

Ranma ignored him and continued as if the interruption had never occurred, "—find a way to—legally—earn a shitload of money, and all that while ideally proving my innocence. Then, and only then can I even think of getting back at _them_," he finished, crossing his arms across his chest, an introspective look adorning his features.

"Yes, yes, m'boy, it would be a grievous error to run off half-cocked," Happosai agreed, taking one last drag from his pipe before stashing it, "for only the well-prepared warrior will prevail."

"Overly dramatic, but essentially correct," Ranma mused with a small smirk. "It seems old age was good for you after all, seeing as you seem to have acquired some wisdom along the way. Or is it rather that an old dog has its day as well?" he mused mock-thoughtfully.

"Insolent brat!" Happosai exclaimed indignantly, grabbed the still quarter-filled glass in front of him and threw the contents in Ranma's face, inadvertedly—or was it?—triggering the gender change which was accompanied by the usual adaptation of clothes.

"You... Old... Pervert!" Ranma screeched in righteous fury and wiped away the excess water, looking as black as thunder as she grabbed her own glass still half-filled with apple juice, her lightning speed ensuring that the contents of the said glass landed squarely in the Grandmaster's face.

Now it was Happosai's turn to sputter indignantly as applejuice ran down his face, and both locked eyes, their expressions slowly but surely changing from annoyed to amused as they regarded their 'baptised' counterpart; neither Ranma nor the old pervert remembered later on who started laughing first, but the two Anything Goes masters ended up guffawing and pointing at each other while holding their aching sides.

Almost five minutes later Ranma had re-established a semblance of composure, a small smile still adorning her face as she wiped away the tears. "I won't kill you this time for changing me into a girl during my guy-time 'cause I can't remember when I laughed like this last, or ever.

"But do that again and I'll make mincemeat outta you. Got me?" Ranma queried with all the sweetness of a citron, blue eyes promising a world of hurt.

Happosai nodded curtly, and assuming that Ranma wouldn't overhear his muttering grumbled, "Mercurial mood swings and promises of physical violence. Hmm, must be her time of the month," to himself, not realising that the redhead overheard every single word due to her symbiote-enhanced hearing. He froze in terror though when he sensed the sudden wave of coldness emanating from Ranma. "Please tell me she did not just overhear that."

"Oh but I did," Ranma replied calmly. Too calmly.

Happosai met the redhead's chilling gaze that promised divine retribution and swallowed, his mind going into overdrive as it computed possible ways to survive, yet before he could put any of them into practice he felt himself being encased in an iron grip courtesy of Ranma's tendrils. The Grandmaster gulped audibly yet again, then his world exploded in pain.

-.-

Ranma calmly sipped from her apple juice as she lounged on her sofa, looking for all intents and purposes as if nothing had happened. A pleased sigh escaped her lips as she placed her glass on the table, a small grin playing on her face. "Now, that did a world of good.

"Che, I really missed beating him up," she admitted to herself after a few moments of reminiscence and snickered, looking at the still form of Happosai—who was lying at her feet—in bemusement. "But damn, am I ever glad that I closed the blinds. Wonder what the neighbours would have said had they seen anything. Woulda probably called the cops," she muttered wryly.

— _**As much as it seems to be inappropriate to make comments as such, this Happosai was not that off-track. Examining your bodily processes revealed that your menses are indeed approaching and should happen any time now,**_ — Sym commented.

**'Feh, so he made a lucky guess. Big deal.'** Ranma retorted, grumbling inwardly.

— _**The timing of your menses could not be better, though. The chance of an inadvertent change is zero, which does not put us at risk during the mission,**_ — Sym remarked.

**'Always look for the silver lining, eh?'** Ranma chuckled lightly, cracking a small smile, **'But you got that right, Sym, it's one worry less; and it means I can concentrate fully on the mission, hot fluids be damned.' **

— _**Indeed. We should really look into possibilities for you to indefinitely remain in the gender of choice in spite of fluids of diverging temperature, though. Being subject to something so readily available is a liability we can hardly afford.**_ —

**'True, but it's not so much a weakness in the physical sense as it is one that would inevitably lead to unpleasant questions upon detection,' **Ranma mused, her posture thoughtful. **'That does however not change that you're correct, Sym. We hafta find something better than the ten minute window.'**

— _**A visit to someone I 'know' from Peter Parker's memories might be called for. His name is Dr. Stephen Strange, and according to Parker's memories he is the best sorcerer there is. **_

— _**Before you get sceptical,**_ — Sym added due to Ranma raising both brows, — _**I assure you that his powers are genuine. If anyone can do anything to improve our situation where your inconstant gender is concerned it would be him.**_ —

The redhead nodded her head slowly after weighing her options, **'Can't hurt, Sym.'** she mused, her focus returning to the outside world and coming to rest on Happosai. **'Apropos pain, I don't remember hitting him that hard.' **

— _**Your heightened strength might be the differing factor in comparison to previous encounters,**_ — Sym suggested thoughtfully.

**'Feh, the old perv's tough. But if he doesn't wake up soon I'll have to resort to drastic measures... Hafta catch some sleep myself,' **she exclaimed, stifling a huge yawn.

— _**Three to four hours are sufficient, as you well know. Yet your self-diagnosis is correct, your energy levels are indeed dropping. Thus it might be advisable to wake him to resume the conversation and get the topics broached within a reasonable amount of time so that you can regenerate.**_ —

**'Gotcha. Waking him up it is,'** she replied, eyeing the still form of Happosai with a speculative gleam in her eyes, **'But on second thought, why not resort to drastic measures? He did it to me often enough in the past, using buckets filled with fuckin' cold water 'n' stuff. Turnabout's fair play,'** the redhead mused with an evil grin as she remembered all the times where he'd woken her up with a bucket of icy cold water to the face, and her expression getting more evil by the second she made to get up from her sofa.

A low moan coming from Happosai stopped her cold though, and a disappointed frown spread on Ranma's face. "Oh shoot," she complained and looked at the ceiling, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Why can't I even have a little fun?"

— _**If you want a 'little fun' as you put it, why do you not let Felicia Hardy meet your male form once your period is over? I am sure 'fun' would ensue,**_ — the symbiote commented slyly.

Ranma blushed beet-red and shook her head in the vain hope the thoughts her mind was producing would fall out of her ears if only she shook her head hard enough, **'Gah! Mind... Outta... Gutter! Must... Not... Undress... Felicia... Mentally! Bad thoughts! Bad!'** the redhead lamented mentally, her right hand shooting up to her nose to wipe away some blood.

"Owwie, oww, oww, oww, what the hell hit me?" Happosai complained as he sat up, holding his aching head in both hands, serving to distract Ranma from her symbiote's merriment.

"That would have been me, Happi," Ranma replied sweetly, putting her hands on her hips as she leaned forward. "And I'll gladly give repeat performances in case you open that big mouth of yours again," she whispered in a fake-sweet tone, her eyes gleaming with an unholy light that promised nothing good.

"No, no, m'dear, that won't be necessary, my mouth will be good," Happosai appeased quickly, holding up his hands while shaking his head in a gesture that said he'd had enough. "Oww, she hits much harder than I remember," he muttered to himself so silently that he was certain Ranma hadn't heard.

"Guess what, I can hit harder still," Ranma commented with an evil grin and cracked her knuckles, causing a surprised Happosai to look at her with wide eyes.

"Oww!" he complained, the fast turn of his head bringing a fresh wave of pain. "And I just thought it a fluke that she overheard me, but nooo, she has to have freakishly good hearing, too. It ain't fair," he grumbled, pouting childishly while shuffling over to the other sofa.

Ranma shot him a full-blown smirk as soon as he'd sat down and was looking at her again. "Those are the perks of being host to Sym. She enhances each and all attributes of moi," she replied, sounding amused.

"All attributes?" Happosai queried with a lecherous grin, his perverted gaze travelling up and down Ranma's body, which caused the redhead to growl from deep within her throat. "Yep," he nodded, ignoring the signs of danger, "no doubt about that. The one who manages to ensnare your heart will be one lucky lady indeed," he opined, nodding wistfully.

Ranma on her part scoffed and decided that going medieval on the pervert—again—would be counterproductive seeing that sleep's calling was getting ever stronger. "Methinks asking you to forego your perverted ways is like asking the moon to stop chasing the sun," she muttered in a disgusted voice, shaking her head as Happosai grinned broadly while nodding fervently.

"Anyway, to get back on track, you know that my plans are long-term and involve a lot of preparation and planning, so I won't be able to get back at _them_," Ranma inflected the 'them' with the usual venom, "for several years. You can guess that I'm not very happy with that,"

"Naturally," Happosai commented, leaning back into the cushion.

"But you encapsulated it pretty nicely when you said that only the one who's truly well-prepared will prevail. I want to crush them," Ranma balled her right hand slowly into a fist, a feral, unforgiving look on her face, "and if I have to wait a few years to pull it off flawlessly I'll do it. I hold all the advantages. A)" she ticked off her left thumb, her intent gaze fixing Happosai, "they think I'm dead 'n' buried, a feast for the worms or whatever you wanna call it, and dunno a thing 'bout the threat I pose."

Happosai nodded, acknowledging the point, "Go on,"

"B)," the redhead smirked darkly, her left index finger following, "I have as much time as I want at my hands to fulfil my secondary goals like getting an education and making money before hitting them where it hurts. The more powerful I am, and I'm talking about power as measured in influence, maybe even political might," she mused, frowning thoughtfully at this thought before filing it away for later review, "the more it will hurt.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold after all, and you can't get any colder than what my feelings are pertaining to these people," the redhead concluded in a cold and sibilant voice that held as much warmth as the vacuum of space.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Happosai muttered with a shudder, almost feeling sorry for those that Ranma had labelled 'betrayers'. "Well, not more than already," he amended, his face sporting a wry smile.

The redhead's face relaxed into a small smile as well, "Done, jiji. Now back to matters at hand, what will you do in the next few years? I mean, going back to Nerima and making their lives hell is all nice 'n' dandy, but as much as it would make my year, this is bound to get boring after a while. Not to mention that they might try to use your weaknesses against you."

"Weaknesses?" Happosai exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest with an annoyed huff. "I have no weaknesses."

Ranma raised a delicate scarlet brow and created a panty from the fabric of her sweater, dangling it in front of her, "Is that so?" she inquired, her tone sceptical.

Happosai was unable to answer the question, seeing that his complete attention was focussed on the black lace panty dangling from Ranma's right index finger. "My precious, come to papa!" he exclaimed before vanishing from his sofa, reappearing right into an outstretched hand which caused him to plummet to the carpeted floor with a protesting "Oww!" right in front of Ranma's feet.

— _**Quod errat demonstrandum.**_ — Sym intoned sagely, Ranma echoing her in the outside world due to the fact that it seemed a fitting thing to say.

A slightly dazed Happosai raised both brows in confusion, "What did you just say, Ranma-chan? I could have sworn that was Latin," he said as he got back to his feet, looking up at her with unveiled curiosity.

**'What **_**did **_**I say, Sym?'** Ranma queried as confused, her neutral face giving away nothing as she waited for an answer.

Sym actually snickered. — _**Loosely translated, 'that which was to prove'. I see we still have ways to go, but we will get there, sooner or later. **_

— _**On second thought, knowing you it will likely be later,**_ — the symbiote teased.

Ranma blew Sym a raspberry in her mind, _**'Bloody funny, Sym. You should take up a job as a comedian.' **_

— _**Sadly,**__**I must decline the offer, seeing that living with you and ensuring you do not do something inadvisable is a fulfilling enough duty and will probably provide me with more entertainment than any other member of my species ever experienced **_— Sym retorted.

Ranma raised a mental brow, unsure if this had been an insult or not. Shaking her head she focussed on the old pervert, glad that the mental conversation had taken up but a few seconds. "It means 'that what was to prove'. And ya proved thatcha can't resist certain... temptations all right," the redhead said in a chiding tone. "So if we wanna be safe," she stifled a huge yawn while making herself more comfortable, "we have to make you impervious to the temptations they might dangle in front of your nose," she mused, seemingly innocently thrusting out her chest.

Happosai's eyes glazed over as expected, yet a quick and painful bop to the head brought him out of his drooling spell alright, "Point made, I'd say," she mused mock-thoughtfully, to which Happosai could only grumble.

"And your 'not-weaknesses' likely mean I'll have to make yet another personal sacrifice when the time comes," Ranma sighed, cuddling deeper into the cushions. "The things I have to do to get my revenge..." she complained, heaving another sigh.

"Sacrifice?" Happosai queried innocently, his blue eyes big and round, "For me?"

Ranma expelled a tired sigh and gave the perverted Grandmaster an exasperated look, "Wouldcha stop looking at me like that, or I might just reconsider," she warned, stifling another yawn, "And yeah, it'd be a sacrifice I'd have to make for you, to ensure that there'd be a chance to actually put my plans into practice. We have just seen how little it takes to distract you," she ignored his sour look, "so we have to ensure _they _can not distract you.

"Thus I've just brought myself to give you a set of bras and panties of yours truly, filled to the brim with my energy prior to your departure," Ranma concluded, a look of barely veiled distaste on her face.

"Y-You'd really do that?" Happosai queried wide-eyed, his tone hopeful and disbelieving to equal parts.

"Way I see it I don't have a choice. You need something to fall back on when _they _try to incapacitate you, and try they will," Ranma replied with a dark look, "_They _know your weaknesses just as well as I after all. It's practically a given they'll try a repeat performance of what they pulled with the cave,"

"I see your point, m'dear," the old man conceded, "and I don't particularly fancy spending another decade in a bloody cave," he groused, his eyes glinting darkly, "So when do I get your undies?" he queried eagerly.

Ranma sighed in disgust, and pasted a neutral look onto her face with difficulty, "That's solely up to you. It's your decision when you wanna return to Nerima, but keep in mind that it might just be as much as five years or more until I'm ready. You might want to travel the world or something until you decide it's time to have a little fun," here she grinned coldly, "but that's solely up to you. Just come back here prior to your departure and you'll get the promised undies. Deal?"

"Deal. There're some techniques out in the world I wanted to conduct research on for ages," Happosai mused, stroking his chin with thumb and index finger of his left hand, "and they would make nice guinea pigs to test them out on," he grinned.

Ranma's answering grin was wolfish. "Sounds like a plan, Happi," she mused, stretching lightly while yawning hugely, "Now excuse me but I hafta throw you out, hafta get my beauty sleep 'n' all that."

"Sad but true. My Ranma-chan with bags under the eyes? I shudder at this very image!" Happosai exclaimed theatrically.

"Out, you!" Ranma growled with a shake of her head as she got to her feet, ushering the old man towards the exit.

The redhead accompanied the complaining Grandmaster to the second story and saw him off after a brief but heart-felt good bye, yet Ranma ensured that the skylight was firmly closed; it was better to not take any chances where he was concerned after all, and just to be on the safe side Sym would pay extra attention to guarding her while she slept. Nodding to herself while yawning so hugely that her jaw protested the redhead went downstairs, and finally, after conducting her business the ex-Saotome called it a night.

-.-

Weak sunlight filtering into the bedroom slowly arose Ranma from the deep slumber she had fallen into, and the redhead sleepily pulled her knees to her chest, at the same time pulling the blanket over her head to block out the offending source of light.

Cracking one eye open under the covers she threw a quick glance at her wristwatch, the luminescent chronometer telling her that it was around about nine a.m.. She briefly wondered why she'd gotten almost six hours worth of sleep instead of the usual four to five, but gave a mental shrug after filing this oddity away for later review and closed said eye again, burying her head even deeper into the pillows. A content expression appeared on her face as Ranma relished in the comfortable warmth only lying under a comfy blanket could bring.

— _**Good morning, Ranma. I felt it prudent to let you sleep in for a bit in order to ensure that you are optimally rested for the things that lie ahead of us**_, — Sym spoke up in her mind a few minutes later, giving the redhead the answer to her earlier question.

''**T'was nice of ya, Sym, 'specially considerin' I didn't sleep very well 'cause of… ya know,' **Ranma replied sleepily without opening her eyes, stifling a huge yawn.

— _**Indeed,**_ — Sym replied calmly, giving the mental equivalent of a nod. — _**Yet that events occurred the way I predicted leaves us with one less major concern. **_—

''**S'true, Sym. Dunno what I'd do if Felicia saw me change into a guy, and it's good I don't hafta worry 'bout it. Ya know, she's the first ta be friendly to me in almost a year. I really like her, she's so easy goin' 'n' fun. Never really felt like this before, it seems there's something drawing me to her.'** Ranma thought back introspectively as she replayed in her mind the events of a few hours ago and the fun she had had, briefly stretching her legs before pulling them back to her chest.

— _**Just easy going, Ranma, or did you not rather mean easy on the eyes?**_ — Sym teased lightly, causing Ranma to groan in annoyance.

'**I admit I do like her, Sym, but I won't get up my hopes just yet. First I gotta know if she likes my guy form, and if worst come to worst I'll hafta wait 'n' see how she's reacts to my… I think you called it 'inconsistent gender' problem.'**

— '_**If worst comes to worst'?**_ — Sym repeated, her confusion showing in her mental voice, — _**I was under the impression that you liked Felicia Hardy. How would it be worse if your relationship developed from friendship into something more?**_

— _**Unless… You are alluding to a scenario where your relationship has already progressed past the point of friendship but where Felicia is still ignorant to your dual nature. Correct?**_ — the alien symbiote stated, curiosity filling her mental voice.

'**Got it in one, Sym,'** the redhead replied, stifling yet another huge yawn. **'These are tomorrow's worries, I know, but I know my luck. I gotta be blessed with the shoddiest karma there is. But I'll cross that bridge when and if the time comes,'** she thought, her face relaxing again.

— _**There is much to be gained by trying to deepen your relationship with Felicia Hardy, though, and little to lose in my opinion, **_— Sym mused, causing Ranma to arch a scarlet brow.

'**Oh? Do explain,'** Ranma prompted, curious as to her symbiote's opinion of things.

— _**First off, Felicia Hardy does not strike me as someone who would betray your secrets. Even if she were to react adversely to your dual nature, it is highly unlikely she would do something to incriminate us. Second, **_**— **Sym continued upon Ranma's mental acquiescence, — _**entanglements caused by your inconstant gender might very well be a moot point as soon as we manage to meet up with Dr. Strange. It is open to speculation, though, which will occur first, **_— the symbiote concluded.

'**Mmmmh,'** Ranma thought back after a few seconds of dwelling on what Sym had stated. **'I gotta admit, you've got a point there. Whatever will be will be anyway,'** she concluded with a hint of dry humour in her mental voice.

— _**This seems to be something akin to a universal law, yes,**_ — Sym agreed dryly. — _**Now how about you hurry up and get your lazy bum out of bed? There is much to do.**_ —

'**Don't wanna. 'S so warm 'n' comfy in here,'** Ranma retorted lazily, not batting a lash at Sym's attempt to tease her. **'Mission starts in round 'bout eleven hours, there ain't no need to get up so early.'**

— _**And would you be inclined to move your posterior out of bed if I told you I devised a new training method for you to try?**_ — Sym asked slyly.

Ranma lazily rolled onto her back and cracked her eyes open just a bit, a deeply curious expression briefly crossing her face before she managed to school her features back into impassivity. **'Maybe,'** she finally retorted in a seemingly casual tone that did not fool her symbiote for a second. **'What does it do?'**

— _**I will tell you the specifics once you abide by the rule of 'rise and shine', Ranma,'**_ — Sym thought back, giving the mental equivalent of crossing her arms in front of her chest.

'**What the heck? 'Rise and shine'? Where didcha pick up that nonsense?'** Ranma queried incredulously, both brows slowly climbing into the hairline.

— _**Do you remember when you fell asleep in front of the TV a few days ago? This said adage was used in an inconsequential series, and I felt it prudent to use it in this context,**_ — Sym answered. — _**Gauging from your reaction I assume you are familiar with the meaning to be conveyed, so I ask you to abide by it. **_—

'**Now even alien symbiotes use the carrot and stick approach. What has the world come to?'** Ranma lamented theatrically, closing her eyes again. **'Okay, I'll play along. You know my weaknesses too well, you smug symbiote.'**

— _**Anything that works,**_ — Sym replied in a tone Ranma felt was indeed entirely too smug.

The redhead shook her head in dismay. **'Just for your information, next to no one uses 'rise 'n' shine' to wake someone up, it's just so... uncool 'n' annoying. Y'know, if I ever have kids and fall prey to such behaviour remind me to kill myself.'**

— _**You should know from experience that I do not care about 'uncool' or 'annoying'. If a method has proven effective I am inclined to use it recurringly, **_— Sym replied matter of factly.

Ranma's mood rapidly worsened as she imagined herself being regularly ripped out of her well-deserved sleep via those vile words and muttered a few choice curse words in reply that communicated her utter annoyance and dissatisfaction with the situation. While she was at it she thoroughly cursed her own damnable curiosity as well, as it was slowly but surely getting the better of her, yawned yet again and slowly, reluctantly forced herself to full alertness as her said damnable curiosity finally overcame her want to enjoy the warmth of her bed.

The redhead blinked open her still sleepy blue eyes, and slowly turned her head to the right to gaze out of the window in hopes it would give her reason to stay in bed, yet the almost cloudless sky gave little grounds for complaint. Sighing loudly she removed the warm blanket, propped herself up on her elbows and brought herself into a sitting position, and with a sigh she swung her legs out of bed after stretching languorously and finally got to her feet.

Frowning briefly due to the sudden coldness induced by the physical contact with the cold tiles—she made a mental note to purchase carpets for the bedroom—Ranma willed slippers onto her feet and patted out of the room, trudging listlessly towards the bathroom.

Having finally reached her destination she grumbled under her breath, pushed the door open and entered the bathroom, her mood instantly improving to some degree due to the more pleasant temperature predominating in the room as well as the prospect of a hot shower.

She quickly closed the door behind her and willed her red pyjamas as well as her underwear away, grumbling under her breath about unavoidable bodily processes that were a pain in the ass and stepped into the shower.

A small smile of anticipation washed away the previous look of dysphoria as Ranma opened the warm water faucet, and nearly instantly a steady stream of the soothing hot liquid descended down her body, eliciting a pleased sigh from the redhead. Steam slowly began to form in the air, and she unconsciously began to whistle a tune as she scrubbed herself. That was what the doc had ordered.

Being locked in female form due to her monthlies did have its advantages, being able to enjoy the blessings of hot water being one of them. Ranma smiled slightly as she was once more made aware of how far she had come, yet frowned as she reminisced how hard it had been in the bunk when she had started. It had only been due to her iron-hard will and determination to let absolutely nothing defeat her that she had eventually gotten used to the 'downsides' being female brought after almost solely having enjoyed the up-sides during her first life, yet in the end she had accepted it as something all females had to go through.

Of course, her being born a boy she had never expected to ever be confronted with 'female issues' at all, she mused wryly as she washed her long, strawberry blond mane, but she had accepted that she was female just as much as male with everything that entailed, concomitants being part and parcel of the package.

In all honesty, the round about seven months she had spent as a female had made her ultimately stronger as it had led to her accepting her dual nature, her having found her inner equilibrium with the realisation that acceptance was the only way forward. Nowadays it was as Happosai had recently observed, all the awkwardness that had been prevalent in her being whenever she had been female had disappeared. She had finally found a balance, in both forms, and could draw strength from the calm it brought.

The hellish time she had spent at Ryker's had shaped her into a much more competent and versatile fighter as well, and she'd never forget the lessons she had learned. She smiled wryly. That what didn't kill you made you stronger indeed. And she would damn well use the strength she had gained, both physical and spiritual, to get even, come hell or high water.

Ranma allowed herself to relax as her descend on the memory lane came to an end, closed her eyes and let the comfortably hot water enshroud her like a warming blanket, washing away all remaining tiredness, temporarily making her forget about the ghosts of the past as well.

-.-

Twenty minutes later Ranma had finished her morning routine, the redhead now feeling more than ready to face the day. The hot shower had really done wonders for her, and while blow-drying her hair she had wished not for the first time that she had had the luxury of hot showers available in her time in the bunk as well, as that would have made things a lot more bearable.

Yet another thing she had the Tendos, more specifically that bitch Nabiki to thank for, seeing as it had been her who had tipped off the authorities that warm water would trigger her 'mutant powers' and change her back to her even stronger and thus 'more dangerous' male form.

She scowled darkly as her thoughts strayed to her erstwhile family. Regardless if the Tendos and her ex-parents might have been tricked just as much as she had been in this whole ordeal, something she considered thoroughly possible, it had been their behaviour after her arrest and prior to her trial as well as the time-span in between that had shown her their true colours.

In her eyes they had committed the worst betrayal possible, for instead of standing by her they had abandoned her, condemned her, yes, literally left her to rot. Honestly, what good were friends, almost family, if you couldn't depend on them when it counted? She'd have sacrificed herself for them in a heartbeat, had almost done so and would readily have done so in the fight against Saffron.

But _they_? They had chosen the easy way out instead of believing her, instead of standing by her, instead of fighting for her, with her. And why? Because associating with her, a supposed murderer who had according to witnesses killed five teens in front of said witnesses, with her 'cousins' having been witnesses as well, would have been a tarnish on their precious honour. So distancing themselves from her, downright denying her existence, had been their chosen course of action. A cowardly course of action, Ranma thought with a dark scowl.

She still didn't understand why they had so easily believed the worst of her, especially after all she had done for them, all the times she had come through for them to save their sorry asses, but nowadays she honestly didn't care about their motives any longer.

They _had _simply thrown her away when the going had gotten tough as if she hadn't been worth the effort, that was irrefutable fact, had even done their utmost to make her life hell. In the end it had been the story of her life. Take the easy way out and blame Ranma, the eternal scapegoat, instead of even trying to uncover the truth.

She was to blame in this as well, oh how she knew it, as she had made too many compromises in the past, too many retreats to satisfy family honour, having allowed them to abuse her as their scapegoat time and again. But when they had thrown her away like a commodity that had lost its value they had gone too far.

Ranma involuntarily scowled as she entered the kitchen. They had expected to break her with all the shit they had heaped on her, had expected that throwing her into jail and effectively locking her as a female for an indeterminable amount of time with the worst examples of humanity for company would shatter her.

It very nearly had, but they had severely underestimated her. They had expected that she'd come to hate her female half due to effectively being locked in that form, had thought her incapable of accepting her entire self, might even have hoped that she'd kill herself, and that would be their undoing. They had forgotten one very important fact, she thought as she gnashed her teeth, a hard, unforgiving look adorning her face, she never lost when it counted, and if she did she made damn sure the defeat wasn't permanent.

Her ex-family's defeat would be very much permanent, though. The first steps to induce the Tendo's and her ex-parents undoing had already been made, and even if they were admittedly small steps, they were necessary steps nonetheless. She had a base of operations, moderate assets that would only grow in time and she had Happosai on her side. Add to that she had a well-paying job and someone who wanted to be a real friend. And not to forget Sym, her confidant, partner and friend.

All she had to do now was to set up an identity for her female form to get the ball rolling, and that she'd do tomorrow night, in the same way she had set up the identity for her male form. First time had worked like a charm, and she knew the area, the requirements and everything pertinent like the back of her hand. She even had already set up a background story for her new identity, and who cared that it was somewhat similar to that of her male form? Life was full of strange coincidences like that, she had lived the life to prove it.

— _**When you have quite finished, Ranma,**_ — Sym interrupted her thoughts smoothly in an amused sounding mental voice, — _**you have been staring at the fridge for a whole two minutes.**_ —

'**Just lost in thought, Sym, just lost in thought,'** Ranma replied with a small smile, opened the fridge and fetched the desired items for her breakfast.

She frowned a bit as she set the kitchen table. The breakfast items she had chosen reflected the changes she had gone through very well, reminding her of the cause for said changes yet again.

A brief look of disgust replaced the frown for a few moments as she remembered the shit she had been fed in jail. The assorted items she was currently placing on the table, orange juice, sliced bread, marmalade and others of her favourites were a far cry from that vile stuff, yet bore absolutely no resemblance to her former preferences either. The preferences of her first life, she thought with a wistful smile that disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Whereas she'd have eaten Miso soup, rice and other assorted Japanese food for breakfast in her first life she now preferred a more... western breakfast.

This rather radical change in behavioural patterns was attributable to her conscious decision to differentiate from her first life as much as possible. The reasons for this were manifold. First and foremost, though, were security reasons; she had to eliminate as many commensurabilities that could link her with her old life as possible. **'And let's face it,'** she thought with a wry smile as she buttered a slice of bread which she subsequently delightfully devoured, **'wouldn't it be a bit odd for an American to prefer Japanese food for breakfast?'**

Another reason Ranma did not want to admit the existence of so easily, not even to herself, was that being reminded of her first life even and in particular through her own behavioural patterns and preferences did hurt. For not only did it remind her of what once was, but of what would never be again.

Her life in Japan—and even before that—had never been an easy one, but she had enjoyed it despite it's... oddities. Her old life had been stolen from her, was forever lost to her, she thought bitterly as she washed down the remnants of her slice of bread and butter with a glass of orange juice, but even if the opportunity should ever present itself, she severely doubted that she'd want to take up her old life again. There was nothing worth returning to except for one, and that was revenge.

Ranma smiled grimly to herself as she walked over to the coffee-machine, the menial task of filling and switching on the machine being performed on auto-pilot as she hung to her thoughts. She then walked over to the tall cupboard that held cups, glasses and assorted stuff and fetched herself a large cup. Her face darkened a bit as she closed the cupboard, turned around and leaned against the counter.

She had made a vow to herself after escaping from Ryker's. She would never forget where she had come from and what she had lost, could never forget, for this was her incentive for getting back at those that had wronged her, the unknown mastermind in the shadows, the Tendos and her former parents.

It might have been... unwise to lay so much of her focus on her plans for revenge where the Tendos and her ex-parents were concerned, but they—in contrast to the as of yet faceless and nameless mastermind that had framed her—made an obvious target, a rather excellent bogeyman. Sym had reminded her time and again not to forget about the cause for the Tendo's and her former parents' betrayal, and she would not. Not anymore.

A determined glint appeared in her eyes, and she pitched her weight away from the counter she had been leaning against to walk over to her favourite chair, sitting down. In fact, she would start looking for trails right after the mission was over, or rather right after she had squeezed everything he knew out of Happosai. The comments he had made a few hours ago alluded to him having at least some knowledge of what had really happened to her, and to say that she was as curious as the metaphorical cat would have been an understatement. Yet in contrast to the said infamous cat she strongly planned on staying alive.

-.-

At a quarter to eight Ranma was standing on the same building she had observed the Symkarian embassy from a day ago, and the former Neriman indulged herself in the simple enjoyment it brought to watch the busy street below. Shrouded in the shadows the evening brought, she continued to observe undisturbed for minutes with just the wind playing with her blonde hair, Ranma having undergone the painful procedure to change her appearance into that of her warrior persona she had used during the tournament—minus the change in height, so as not to arouse Felicia's suspicion—at the recommendation of Sym.

In case something went wrong and one of their opponents managed to rip off the malleable facemask—as unlikely as that was—Ranma would have an extra layer of protection, seeing as her warrior persona wasn't the real her. The reasoning was the same as in case of the tournament, and Ranma had readily agreed, not least due to the fact that she inwardly liked being badass. And her tattooed and spiky-haired warrior persona _was _badass.

Shaking herself out of her musings she suddenly smiled underneath her facemask as she sensed her partner in crime descend from the skyline, the Black Cat landing nimble-footed beside her.

"Hey Scar, well-rested from yesterday's events and ready to kick some ass?" Felicia queried with a grin that showed off her larger than normal seeming incisors, her green eyes sparkling energetically.

"Of course. I'm really looking forward to blowing off some steam, in fact," Ranma said and cracked her knuckles for emphasis, slight irritation obvious in her voice.

"God have mercy on our opponents then. Scar is feeling bloodthirsty," the Cat remarked jovially. "And we all have seen the results," she finished in a somewhat more serious tone, her allusion all too clear.

Ranma snorted in mild irritation and crossed her arms underneath her chest, "They had it coming. And if 'em guys we'll undoubtedly hafta face today have it coming as well it's their problem, not mine. World's filled with assholes anyway, it could well do with a lot less."

"True, true," Felicia agreed after a moment of remembering all the assholes she had met in her life. "So whatcha say we go in and find out what our mission's all about?"

"Sound idea. You up for a repeat performance of yesterday?" Ranma asked with an audible grin in her voice, her head tilted cockily to the side.

Felicia just raised a brow that conveyed the message 'You've got a few screws lose'. "Riiiight. Not that I doubt your abilities, but now that we're working for Sable we can just say 'Hello, Mr. Guard. We're the Black Cat and her crazy sidekick Scarlet Widow,' and walk right through the front door."

"Oi! How come I'm the crazy sidekick?" Ranma queried in mock-outrage, placing her hands on her hips. "And besides, where's the fun in knocking on the front door? Everyone does it," she said haughtily and crossed her arms underneath her chest again, causing Felicia to roll her eyes in mock-exasperation.

"First off, I've been in this whole super-hero business longer than you. That makes you the sidekick by default," Felicia said mock-seriously, causing Ranma to smile in spite of herself. "Second, everyone does it for a reason. It's called making a normal entry, you should try it some time."

"Hah! You're just chickening out, is all," the blonde countered in an equally mock-serious tone.

"Am not. Besides, we really ain't got time for this," she said after taking a look at her watch. "We may have made a good impression yesterday, but we shouldn't risk ruining it by being unpunctual. Particularly not on our first mission," Felicia concluded, her voice acquiring a more serious quality.

"Oookay," Ranma replied, disappeared from beside her companion and reappeared seemingly instantly behind her, scooping her up into her arms which elicited a protesting noise. "You wanna be punctual, we're gonna be punctual."

And without further ado Ranma jumped off the building, a roguish grin appearing on her face both due to the action as well as the slight grin that had appeared on Felicia's face. **'I so have it in me,'** the blonde thought as they plummeted towards the ground, and her grin only widened when Felicia seemed to make herself comfortable against her body.

Noticing the slight flutter in her stomach Ranma cleared the street with a powerful jump, and a few mighty leaps later the crime-fighting duo was standing in front of a very surprised-looking and rather non-descript, blackly-clothed guard.

"Hello. I am Scarlet Widow," Ranma said in an aloof tone as if she were talking about the weather as she let Felicia to the ground. "And this lady is The Black Cat. We have an appointment with Silver Sable."

"We're also in somewhat of a hurry," Felicia added with a grin. "So please hurry in rebooting your mental facilities, I don't think the boss likes to wait. And wouldn't it just be too bad if we had to tell Sable that you held us up, Morty?" she queried with a flutter of her lashes after having taken a look at his ID-tag.

"Yeah, too bad," Ranma muttered under her breath, not liking the way the man kept on staring at them.

"Err, umm, yeah," the guard replied after another twenty seconds of staring at Ranma and Felicia like they were angels that had descended from the heavens, "Just a sec," he said and fetched a clipboard from his alarm post. "Everything looks in order. You may pass, ladies."

"Thank you," both Ranma and Felicia replied and walked through the sally port, only the latter bothering to return the guard's smile.

-.-

At 8 p.m. sharp Ranma knocked at Silver Sable's office door, the fact that the guards flanking the said door were little more than unmoving statues telling the duo that they were expected. Sable's exclamation to enter came thus as no surprise, and the blonde opened the door and walked in, Felicia closing the door behind them.

The duo of crime-fighters let their gazes travel over the room to grasp the situation first and then greeted the said room's occupants, that being Sable and the Sandman. The Symkarian mercenary allowed a small smile to cross her lips and motioned Ranma and Felicia to take a seat, an invitation both accepted gladly.

Sable leaned forward in her office chair and steepled her fingers, her intent blue eyes gazing at the two women in front of her. "Now that we are complete we'll go over the mission details one more time, ladies. Just to ensure the pertinent data is understood."

"Yes, boss," three voices chorused dutifully, Flint's mutterings of 'and gents' fading away unheard.

"Our client is Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. It appears one of their enemies, The Wizard, managed to steal an untested and new invention during the ruckus caused by their latest clash. The said device is,"

"A thingie called 'replicator', yeah, yeah, boss," Flint Marko interrupted in a bored and disinterested tone, much to his employers' irritation.

"Thank you, Mr. Marko, that would probably have slipped my mind without you," Sable remarked pointedly, causing Ranma and Felicia to snort in amusement while Sandman had the grace to look sheepish.

"I wasn't able to get a lot of details out of Mr. Richards, just that the 'replicator' is allegedly able to duplicate every item it has scanned and/or that's in its database. To ease your worries, it wouldn't be able to replicate a human being meaning the Wizard could not raise his own army just like that, but according to Mr. Richards it'd very well be able to copy less evolved beings.

"He stated he isn't very worried, though, seeing as his tinker-toy is still riddled by severe bugs, and the fact that he delegated its retrieval to us raises this probability. Then there's the fact that the replicator needs a special casing, some kind of mainframe to be operational, which is something the Wizard doesn't have.

"However, I recommend that you exhibit extreme caution, for we do not know if the Wizard is working solo or if he has partners," Sable concluded, her intent gaze travelling from Sandman to Felicia to Ranma.

"We know all that. We also know that an informant of yours pointed you towards the Wizard's alleged hiding place," Ranma spoke up in a disinterested tone that matched the tone Sandman had spoken in.

"Which is located at the lower East side of Manhattan in an abandoned industrial zone," Felicia supplied, matching Ranma's tone to a tee.

"Good. Seeing that you seem to know your mission so well, I suggest you get cracking. Mr. Marko will accompany you in case you need back up, but this is your first solo mission, ladies, and I expect you to complete it to my satisfaction," Sable remarked calmly, her fingers steepled. "Considering your talents I'd say you should be more than up to it."

Ranma and Felicia exchanged a brief look that communicated both had understood the message Silver Sable had wanted to convey. "We won't disappoint you, boss," they said in unison, exchanged another look followed by a determined nod and got to their feet.

Silver Sable masterfully hid the amused smile that wanted to escape her at seeing that her newest employees seemed to be very keen to prove themselves, and the look she sent Flint Marko that said it was his job to assure nothing went wrong was received loud and clear by the Sandman. "'Kay, come on now, gals, ya can file yer nails later," he remarked tauntingly as he got to his feet himself, shooting Ranma and Felicia a teasing grin.

The blonde for her part fixed him with a glare of her unblinking twin white pools and directed his attention to her rapidly growing talons, a fact that made the teasing grin disappear faster than ice in the sunshine. "One more comment like that and I'm gonna use you as my scratching post to properly file my _nails_, comprénde?" she queried in a voice that cut through the tall man like an icy gust of wind.

Felicia had to hold back a chuckle as Flint Marko nodded visibly against his will, and she could almost feel her partner's evil grin. **'Can't help but to admire her style. Heh, good ole intimidation works well for her. But hoh-boy, Scar's really scary today without even trying, and she's moody too. Hmm, must be her time. Poor ole Sandman, if he keeps on annoying her he'll get himself kicked where the sun doesn't shine,'** the silver haired heroine thought with a grin.

"If you're quite finished, ladies, you have a job to do. And business waits for no one," Sable remarked seriously, just a hint of amusement audible in her voice.

"Gotcha, boss," Sandman replied, taking Sable's remark as an opportunity to gather himself, and Ranma gave a nod of acknowledgement as well. "We'll be on our way then, boss," the blonde added, and giving her employer a nod she strolled out of Sable's office, Felicia and Sandman on her heels.

"Leadership qualities, a good tactical mind yet a streak of individuality a mile wide. Somehow she reminds me of myself when I was younger," Sable muttered to herself with a wry chuckle. "Something tells me she'll go far, and I think having her around and working for me will make things very interesting."

Silver Sable had no way of knowing that words truer than that had seldom been spoken.

-.-

Twenty minutes later Ranma and Felicia had arrived in the vicinity of the abandoned industrial zone Sable had pointed them to, the duo opting to use the roof of an old factory that had been abandoned for years by the look of it as a choke point. Due to the fact that Flint Marko's mode of transportation was hardly to be mistaken as a sudden and severe gust of Sahara winds the trio had decided that Ranma and Felicia would travel via web-slinging while Sandman would travel using the sewers.

The crime-fighting duo had just made themselves at home when all of a sudden sand began to spew forth from a drain right down below their position. The masked blonde and the silver haired crime fighter exchanged an amused look, Ranma scooping the older woman up into her arms while saying, "You reckon he got caught up in a traffic jam underneath the city, or why did he take five minutes longer than us?" in an amused tone.

"Yeah, and they say us women take our sweet time," Felicia replied fake-seriously. "Butwho knows, there's a lot of creepy stuff running around down there," she added in a completely serious tone.

"Yep, all kinds of nasties," Ranma readily agreed, just loud enough to be heard, adding **'With the biggest I encountered yet being Doc Ock, and he learned not to mess with me just as the smaller pests.'** mentally.

Felicia shuddered briefly and suppressed memories that came bubbling to the surface. "Moving on, it's good to see that Flint possessed at least enough common sense to choose a point that's far enough away from the target to make his exit," she replied, sounding amused.

"Yeah, he seems trainable," Ranma agreed in a tone that conveyed she was joking, the corners of her mouth quirking up in satisfaction as a brilliant smile bloomed on Felicia's face. "Now get a hold of your panties, I'm gonna get us down there. Flint's obviously looking for us, and it wouldn't do he triggers some kinda alarm our opponent may have set up. The guy's a technical genius after all," she reasoned and flexed her muscles.

Felicia nodded and wrapped her arms around the blonde with a grin. "Okay, got a hold," she replied cheekily.

Ranma just shook her head in bemusement, jumped round about twelve metres downwards and landed nimble-footed. Felicia grinned at her partner as she let herself out of the fireman's carriage. "It was a pleasure, as always," the Black Cat remarked with twinkling eyes before strolling off towards Flint Marko's position, the Sandman having caught sight of them in the meantime.

The host of Sym felt a flutter in her stomach and remained rooted to the spot for a few moments before shaking herself out of her thoughts, muttering, "Damn hot cat doesn't even know how hot she really is," before following said 'hot woman'.

— _**Oh, but I'm sure she does. And if I am not thoroughly mistaken there might be a good chance the Black Cat might reciprocate your feelings, especially once she learns of your male form, my host. I would have to err gravely, but I do not think your gender-changing affliction would present a problem,**_ — Sym mused to herself in the privacy of her thoughts.

"Hey gals, got caught up in a fuckin' traffic jam or something. Ran inta a fuckin' huge alligator, can ya believe that? Had ta skewer the thing 'cause it's tiny brain thought sand was tasty, but here I am. Late, but better late than never," Flint greeted them with a sheepish grin. "And am I ever glad that my sand form ain't having taken on the fuckin' stink," he added with a fierce scowl.

"Hey, Flint. Can relate ta whatcha said, man. I chased Doc Ock through the sewers myself not long ago, so I know exactly what you mean," Ranma spoke up.

"Don't get _me_ started. I've lost count on how often I had to go down into that stinking maze, and it has only gotten worse over the years," Felicia piped up, her face sporting a look of disgust.

"Moving on, we should get started on the mission," Ranma suggested, casually tying her hair into a ponytail with one of Sym's tendrils. "That replicator thingie ain't gonna retrieve itself."

"Right. You two come up with a plan, it's your mission after all. I'm just the backup detail," Sandman stated, calmly crossing his arms across his chest.

"Good," Ranma said evenly and looked at Felicia. "I'm in the know when it comes to this area seeing as I've been here before. The most logical place for the Wizard to have set up his base would be the old warehouse eight through this alleyway. As you see, these two warehouses that form the alleyway are quite derelict, and I'm sure someone with as big an ego as Sable described this Wizard having would only settle for the best available. And that's the warehouse I mentioned," she explained, resting her hands on her hips after having finished.

"So you've been here before, eh? That sure comes in handy," Felicia mused with an appreciative look. "So, what can you tell me about the warehouse itself? Size, exits, the works."

Ranma put a finger to her chin as she recalled her memories of the layout of the warehouse, Sym aiding her unbidden yet she gladly accepted it with her own recollections. "Let me see," she mused, "the hall's about a kilometre long and a half kilometre wide. It had two entrances slash exits last time, one at the right end of the hall, the other obliquely opposite. Can't say much about the interior, it was very plain last time. Other than that... Well, the hall's about twelve metres tall, and that's about it. No idea what the Wizard's done to the place, provided he really set up base here."

Felicia nodded after having gone over the details in her mind, her face sporting a satisfied look, "That's better than naught, Scar, and more on information than we'd otherwise have," she mused, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Can you use that invisibility trick of yours to get us into the hall? That'd be really nifty."

A slightly perverted grin appeared on Ranma's masked face as she realised that this meant more physical contact, the grin being followed by a blush as she realised just what she had been thinking. Realising that she was supposed to give an answer the blonde nodded slowly, "Yeah, I think that'd work. My invisibility wouldn't cover Flint, though, he'd have to find a way of his own. But that ain't a problem seeing as you're the observer here anyway, eh?" she remarked teasingly.

"Oi! You wound me!" Sandman replied mock-hurt, causing the women to smile.

"Okay, let's tackle it," Ranma stated determinedly, and had scooped up Felicia in her arms yet again moments later. She noticed much to her satisfaction that the Black Cat made herself comfortable against her body, and another blush appeared on her face as she thought about how good this would feel in her male form.

"You said it, Scar. Let's show Flint just how we infiltrated Sable's headquarters. Take a good long look, Flint, and don't blink, for in a few ya won't see nothing," Felicia remarked smugly.

Taking her comment as the cue Ranma briefly concentrated as she called up on Sym's camouflage abilities as well as her Umi, and all of a sudden both crime-fighters seemed to have simply faded from existence, just so as if they had never been there in the first place.

Flint Marko couldn't help but to be impressed, and the man of sand whistled lowly, "Now that's darn impressive, gals. Any chance an old dog like me could learn that?" he queried.

"Not really," came Ranma's voice from behind him, causing Flint to whirl around and squint his eyes, yet he perceived nothing but thin air, "Not because I don't trust you or anything, far from it, but it'd take years to learn. Sorry."

"Ah, it ain't a problem. Never been the learning type anyway. And now shoo, ladies, you got a mission to accomplish," Sandman exclaimed, making a shooing motion with his arms.

Light chuckling emanating from seemingly thin air was his reply. "Aye, aye, sir!" Ranma mock-saluted, and then the Sandman, who sported an amused grin, heard nothing any more. Mission 'replicator retrieval' was a go.

-.-

This time around Ranma chose a different path to get to the large warehouse eight that was her target yet again, having taken to the roof of the left warehouse in one powerful leap. Uncaring if the wizard had the warehouse bugged, trip-wired or Jack knew what she hasted across the roof with Felicia in her arms.

The Black Cat was amazed at the speed the other woman exhibited while running, for to Felicia it seemed that her surroundings blurred before they had suddenly, just twenty seconds later in her estimation, covered one kilometre of roof and were jumping to the ground. Not breaking her run Ranma then ran straight towards their destination, another powerful leap taking her to the roof of their likely target, on which she landed in a low crouch and with hardly a sound.

— _**Ranma, this roof is heavily bugged, trip-wired and equipped with a wide variety of surveillance tools. In short, it is secured in an optimal way I cannot help but respect. Whoever thought this up knew his onions, to make use of one of your fascinating human idioms. It is nothing we will not be able to overcome, but do not let go of Felicia under any circumstances,**_ — Sym piped up.

'**Roger that, Sym. Now to find something we can use as an entrance,'** the blonde thought back and stealthily made her way across the roof.

"How about we start looking for an open window? It has worked before," Felicia suggested in a whisper.

"Not bad, that idea," Ranma whispered back, keeping her opinion that finding an open window was extremely unlikely as she made her way to the side of the warehouse that faced away from the dirt road.

"Of course. The idea came from me after all," Felicia replied mock-haughtily.

Ranma chuckled lightly, "Okay, your brilliantness, would you now please get onto my back? Climbing along the wall is easiest this way, and-"

"No need to say any more, Scar. I've seen firsthand yesterday just how effective this is," Felicia replied, and with a few, artistic movements that evoked all kinds of funny feelings in the blonde the Black Cat made herself comfortable on Ranma's back.

The feeling of Felicia's ample talents and curvaceous body pressed into her back—and other body parts—and the Black Cat's arms slung around her mid-section just below her breasts was even more intense than yesterday, and Ranma barely suppressed a low moan. Sym downright smirked in satisfied amusement within the private 'partition' of her mind at 'seeing' the blonde's physiological reactions to the intense, yet outwardly innocent physical contact, and she wasn't surprised in the least that her host needed several seconds to gather her bearings.

Her host could try to deny it as vehemently as she liked, Ranma's reactions just now proved that she was more than attracted to the silver haired woman on her back, and she would carefully watch the situation and subtly—as well as not so subtly, if needed or opportune—encourage her host. These two were just too good a match, and it was too bad they didn't know it yet.

Oblivious to her symbiote's thoughts and being hard-pressed to keep her imagination from running rampant as well Ranma carefully climbed down the wall and let her gaze travel along the side of the wall, yet not even her enhanced vision was able to discern if there was maybe an open window. In close to medium proximity she had drawn blanks, but maybe the far end would yield results? Well, it was worth a shot, the symbiote host mused, and having made her decision she slowly made her way along the wall.

"Regardless how often you do that, Scar, it's God damn cool," Felicia spoke up in a whisper.

A pleased grin appeared on Ranma's face. "I think so too. I really have to pay Peter back for these cool powers. Dunno, start a company with him and make him wealthy, give him training to make him a real kick-ass fighter or something. These powers are just about the limit," Ranma whispered back, an audible grin to her voice.

"You won't hear me trying to contest that, Scar. I admit I do envy you, but damn, Sym was lucky to have run into you rather than some psychotic murderer. It's damn safe to assume things would have gone straight to hell had that been the case," Felicia replied.

"Maybe it's good that we'll never know, Kittie. But it's nice to know that you think of me as a good example of a human being. It's appreciated," Ranma whispered back in honest gratitude, a smile blooming on her face.

"You're welcome, Scar, but I was just voicing my observations," Felicia replied in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Ranma's smile to grow.

— _**If you are quite finished rotting my non-existent teeth with what the TV calls mushy stuff I would ask you to listen to this little reprimand of mine.**_ — Sym spoke up.

'**I'm all ears, Sym, fire away.'** Ranma retorted mentally while wondering what her symbiote wanted to criticise, outwardly saying, "Thank you nonetheless," to Felicia.

— _**Ranma, you would very well be able to see the end of the warehouse if you would ask me to enhance your vision to a greater degree, and you know it. And then you would see that no window is open on this side of the building. But I think you prefer the alternative that prolongs the physical contact between Felicia and yourself, is it not so? —**_

'**Goddamm, I like her, yeah. There's just something about her…**' Ranma thought with a mental sigh, **'But you better stop teasing me or you won't be seeing me indulging in little bouts of violence for a while, Sym'** she added warningly as she continued to crawl along the wall.

— _**Judging from how wet the junction between your legs is I would say you do more than **_**'**_**like' her, and do not even try to argue that this is due to your period. I know your body, both of them, like the back of my hand—to use another of your interesting idioms—so I know the difference. I find it illogical that you do not take steps to form a relationship with her if you are attracted to her to such a degree. Your body sure thinks you should get horizontal with her, to borrow another interesting human phrase,**_ — Sym retorted, causing a rosy hue to appear on Ranma's face, the blonde being glad not for the first time that she was wearing a mask. — _**And your threat, if it even qualifies as one, does not impress me in the slightest. As soon as you encounter individuals you find wanting you are bound to dish out justice as you see fit, and that does include violence beyond the shadow of a doubt,**_ — the symbiote concluded with conviction.

'**Damn, she knows me too well,'** Ranma thought to herself, incidentally reaching the end of the wall which prompted her to speak the observation Felicia had to have made as well. "Oh goodie. No open window. Meh, maybe the backside's our ticket," she said in a whisper.

"I'm sure we'll find a way in. I'm a Black Cat, remember? I bring misfortune to my enemies," Felicia whispered back, her hot breath tickling the right side of Ranma's masked face.

"Y-Yeah, misfortune," the distracted blonde replied and crawled around the corner in an attempt to clear her thoughts.

"'s everything okay, Scar? You sound odd, as if something's bothering you," Felicia whispered, worry audible in her voice, her breath yet again tickling the younger woman.

— _**Oh yes, she is hot and bothered all right,**_ — Sym teased amusedly.

'**Oh shuddit, Sym. You ain't helpin', 'n' you've definitely watched too much TV. You're turning into a right pervert,'** Ranma shot back irritably, her face contorted in annoyance.

— _**Encouraging you to take up a relationship that is physical in nature as well as what else you have that constitutes a 'normal' relationship is not perverted in the slightest. I even vow here and now not to turn into a 'peeping Tim,**_

'**Tom, Sym'** Ranma interjected. **'It's called peeping Tom.'**

— _**Interesting. My reference must have been faulty. Thanks for the correction, Ranma.**_ —

'**Welcome,'** Ranma thought back.

— _**To return to what I was saying, I vow that I will not turn into a peeping Tom once you two decide to get a room,**_ — the symbiote concluded, a feint trace of amusement audible in her voice.

"Everything's okay, Kittie," Ranma replied after forcefully ejecting certain images from her mind. "Was just trying to extrapolate what kinda opposition we're gonna face. I hate to fly blind, you know?" she said in answer to Felicia's question.

"'kay. Just wanted to make sure," Felicia replied, and Ranma could tell from the other woman's voice that she hadn't fully bought it.

"I'll be damned," Ranma muttered a few seconds later as her enhanced vision spied a window that was indeed open, the gap allowing them easy access, "Wouldcha look at that. Ain't that neat?"

"What are you talking about... Oh, now I see it as well. Seems we have our way with windows, eh?" Felicia whispered amusedly.

"Yeah, it really seems this way. And who're we to discard an invitation such as this?" Ranma asked rhetorically, making her way towards their 'ticket' into the warehouse.

"True, true. Shall we knock to see if someone's at home?" Felicia whispered impishly.

"By all means," Ranma whispered back, and her mental gears shifting into battle mode the spider-powered gender-changer entered the building.

-.-

Ranma carefully crawled through the open window, mindful that her precious cargo wouldn't bump her beautiful head, and once she had reached the inside of the building she remained adhered to the wall so as to get an overview of the situation. Her first act was to scan for ki-signatures, and upon finding none she asked Sym to conduct a check of her own, which yielded the same results. The owners were apparently not at home. **'Che, they're probably committing a crime right now. Too bad that they'll find someone stole from the stealers when they return,'** Ranma thought mirthfully.

— _**I urge you to be cautious despite that. Nothing is what it seems, more often than not,**_ — Sym warned.

'**Gotcha, Sym,'** she replied and let her symbiote-enhanced gaze sweep across the room. The blonde barely managed to keep in the low whistling that wanted to escape her.

"Damn, would you look at all these... these thingies!" Felicia whispered from her back, beating Ranma to making a comment, the Black Cat's use of the term 'thingies' very appropriate for the wide variety of very futuristic looking gadgets. "It kinda looks like Mr. Fantastic's lab with all those apparatuses standing around."

"Never seen Mr. Fantastic's lab, but yeah, it really looks like some kinda lab out of some crazy science fiction movie or something," Ranma agreed in a low whisper. "Which tells us this is the correct address. Now we're gonna find us that replicator thingie, return it to its owner and cash in on our first salary."

"Sounds like a plan to me, Scar," Felicia replied. "Let's get going."

Ranma smiled behind her facemask. "Aye, aye, ma'am. Your wish is my command," she replied and crawled downwards.

Felicia's body heaving against hers as the older woman seemingly suppressed her amusement didn't make the task of crawling down the ten metres to ground level any easier, and Sym's amusement which she could feel in the back of her mind didn't help any either, which was why Ranma was unsurprisingly happy once she had reached terra firma.

Recalling what she had seen from the bird's eye perspective Ranma guided her steps to the left where she thought to have seen some kind of futuristic workbench, working with the assumption that that particular part of the lab would be the most likely to yield results. Still carrying Felicia on her back without even noticing the weight the invisible martial artist made a beeline for her target, and a wide and satisfied grin spread on her face as she got close enough to make out details. "Damn, that's gotta be the replicator thingie," she said in a whisper and headed straight for a complex looking apparatus.

"You're right. But it's worse than our intel told us. The Wizard has managed to build that mainframe piece Sable mentioned. That could mean the thing's operational," Felicia whispered back, her tone slightly worried.

"Who cares? We'll just take the whole damn thing. If the sucker actually managed to iron out the bugs it's his loss," the blonde retorted, coming to a stop in front of the bulky machine.

And before Felicia had even had the chance to retort that Ranma better be careful due to the replicator likely being booby-trapped, Ranma had already reached out and lifted the machine up. Her spider-sense kicked in a few seconds too late as a loud, blaring siren immediately came to life, and before even Ranma with her outstanding reaction time could react, a large cage seemingly made of acrylic glass had been lowered from the ceiling at insane speeds by some unseen mechanism. The crime-fighting duo was trapped.

-.-

Ranma calmly placed the machine back on the workbench and then turned her head in all directions to assess the situation, noting that Felicia surveyed the cage that had them trapped as well. Opting to find out just how thick the walls of the cage made of what seemed to be acrylic glass were the blonde stepped to the closest acrylic wall to probe it with her senses.

A grin slowly spread on her masked face as she came to the realisation that it was indeed acrylic glass, admittedly very thick glass at that, but nothing that she wouldn't be able to shatter with careless ease. She had just reared back her arm and formed a fist when someone spoke up from her immediate right. "Now, now, we can't have any of that," a male voice remarked in an arrogant tone, causing Ranma to swivel her head towards the speaker, who turned out to be a diminutive bearded man wearing a red and light-blue coloured armour, red helmet, and gauntlets.

"So the Wizard's not in Oz, what a pity," Felicia spoke up, causing Ranma to snort in amusement.

"Witty repartee is not going to help you, little cat," the diminutive man retorted as he stepped closer.

"Maybe not, but that will," Ranma replied and reared back her fist once more.

"Tut, tut," the man exclaimed in a chiding tone and pressed a button on a device that resembled a remote control, "Such violent behaviour. I'm afraid I can not tolerate that."

The instant the Wizard had finished speaking Ranma's world seemed to take a side-wards tilt that threw her into a dimension of agony, and she absently noticed that while affected as well she seemed to be far worse off than Felicia.

'**Sym, what's going on… here? Why am I… feeling so... weak?'** Ranma almost screamed in her mind as she sunk to her knees, clutching the sides of her bowed head with both hands; she noticed with alarm that her facemask began to melt, and it slowly cascaded downwards in a gooey stream, her ponytail coming undone as the tendril holding it together dissolved.

— _**I am… sorry Ranma. I failed… to tell you… about my… weaknesses,**_ — the symbiote replied in an almost raspy sounding tone. — _**We are… being subjected to… high frequency sonics… as well as... a localised field... of increased... gravity originating from… the ceiling… of this cage. The wavelength… of the emitted sound… is sufficient… to break up… our symbiosis. I am… sorry.**_ —

'**Break up? Oh no, no, no, no! I… can't lose you… too!'** Ranma thought back fiercely and desperately as she balled her hands into tight fists, uncaring that tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

Despite her attempts to maintain her hold on her symbiote Ranma felt that the goo-like substance that comprised Sym's body began to slowly pool at her feet, and a frustrated cry escaped the blonde at being so helpless. **'How could I've... been so careless... and arrogant to... let myself... get caught so... off-guard? How could I... misjudge the... situation so... badly? Stupid, stupid, stupid!'** she depreciated herself, gritting her teeth so hard that more tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as the pain caused by the forced separation continued to tear through her being.

Ranma's verbal exclamation as well as the muffled sobs and cursing coming from her as she despairingly fought to maintain her connection with Sym, her saviour, confidant and first real friend, caused Felicia to break through her own pain caused by sonic bombardment and increased gravity, and the Black Cat managed to slowly swivel her head to look at the suffering blonde. Her intent was to help her ailing friend in any way or form possible, yet both brows climbed slowly into her hairline at being able to see Ranma for the first time without her facemask on, and one thought came to the forefront unbidden, **'Damn, she's gorgeous!'**

Seeing how much her friend was suffering Felicia pushed herself to her feet and made her way over to her partner under difficulties, knelt down behind the blonde and hugged her from behind. "I'm here for you, Scar. You're not alone in this," she whispered softly and took Ranma's balled hands into her own, softly caressing knuckles and fingers of the blonde's right hand with her own right in a gesture of comfort and support.

"T-Thank you," Ranma replied as she allowed herself to relax into Felicia's embrace.

"What are friends for, Scar," Felicia said with an audible smile to her voice, and squeezed Ranma's hands anew.

Gratitude flooded through Ranma, the pleasant feeling the physical contact induced helping her through her pain, giving her something to focus on which aided her in enduring the pain, yet as hard as she fought to maintain her hold on Sym, the agonised blonde realised all too soon that it was an all but impossible task.

Felicia, who sensed Ranma's mounting frustration and pain as she fought on with the strength of the desperate, just held on tighter to her friend and partner as she tried to lend her the strength to hold out, "We'll pull through this together, Scar, you just gotta believe in it," she urged the blonde on, eliciting a weak nod and an audible grinding of teeth on Ranma's part as she scraped up her remaining strength.

"Aww, isn't that just too cute, no, downright heart-rending? The heroine's are there for each other in their mutual time of need. Pathetic," the Wizard sneered, and looked amused at the twin glares sent his way.

"Anyway, you lose a symbiote, li'l girl,I gain one for studying purposes. I'd call that a good deal. For me," Bentley Wittman taunted arrogantly. "On a side-note, I commend you on your choice of surgeon, those are indeed a nice pair," the man concluded clinically, much like a scientist admiring another's work.

"Screw... you, asshole," Ranma retorted weakly, making no attempt to cover her modesty as she leaned back further into Felicia's embrace.

"Fuck you, you old goat," the said woman had spat out venomously at the same time and had tightened her hold on Ranma as if wanting to protect her from the villain's prying eyes, though inwardly she shared the man's opinion. Scar's breasts were indeed a nice pair and downright perfect, just as the rest of her that was slowly being unveiled by the melting away combat suit.

The Wizard laughed at Ranma and ignored Felicia's insult. "As tempting an offer as this is, I have to decline. One brat is more than enough," he replied, muttering the last sentence almost to himself. "To return to topic, hadn't I decided not to accompany my team-mates your ploy might have succeeded, but did you really think you could enter my lair without my notice? Please. My sensor phalanx detected you right after you met up with your sandy friend, and it was child's play for me to render my presence undetectable to lure you into thinking we had left base.

"Your invisibility trick was admittedly intriguing and would have been good enough to overcome my systems, as I'll grudgingly admit, yet it was ultimately a failure seeing as you employed it too late. Amateurs will always be amateurs.

"Anyway, I will have plenty of time to study the camouflaging abilities a symbiote grants, and I'll most certainly unravel the mechanics behind this disappearance act of yours."

"Never, asshole," Ranma spat defiantly, Felicia lacing the man with an—albeit impotent—glare as well.

"Never say never again, girl. That's a lesson you'd do well to learn," the Wizard retorted, chuckling mirthfully, "That reminds me, you can come out now, Mr. Marko," he called, briefly tearing his gaze away from the suffering women to look to his right. "I believe an old friend of you wants to say hello, isn't that so, Mr. Bench?"

After exhausting her energies to defy the arrogant Wizard in addition to giving her all to keep a hold on Sym Ranma barely had the strength to look up to witness how a steady stream of water began to emit from a nearby water standpipe, but she heard Felicia's outburst of "Fuck!" loud and clear.

"Not very eloquent, but essentially a fitting summary of your situation, Miss Hardy. You foolish and incompetent lot overestimated yourselves, and errors of judgement tend to get punished," the Wizard commented after turning his coldly smirking face towards the captured crime-fighters. "Mr. Bench, whom I called back as soon as I spied you and his former associate, and Mr. Marko will undoubtedly engage in battle… oh, I see they already have," he observed casually as a clash of a sandy and a watery body occurred, Hydro-Man succeeding in pushing his and the Sandman's combined body masses through the newly made door and out of the hall.

"This meaningless skirmish will result in a stalemate with neither being able to win. The result will inevitably consist thereof that I will not only have enough time to make preparations to move to another location, oh no, I will rather have an interesting specimen to study and use for my purposes. The possibilities are endless," the armoured man crowed in dark delight.

"Never!" Ranma snarled through gritted teeth, still barely possessing the strength to lift her head and lace her captor with a defiant glare. "I'll find... a way to break... free. You ain't gettin' away... with this."

"Hah hah hah! I _have_ already gotten away with it, you foolish wench!" the Wizard exclaimed arrogantly, putting his hands on his hips while grinning mockingly at Ranma, who glared back fiercely.

Felicia gave Ranma's hands a reassuring squeeze and laced the Wizard with a death-glare of her own. "The hell you have! You're nothing special, Wizard, you're just a man who likes to play with toys! We _will _find a way to beat you!" she vowed through clenched teeth.

"Brave words, but you're clearly overestimating yourselves yet again, little girls," Bentley Wittman retorted in a condescending tone. "The separation process is under way, and the cage holding you is impenetrable to anyone with a normal human's level of strength such as yourself. You have lost.

"And you," his cold blue eyes fixated Ranma, "don't even try to delude yourself into thinking you were anything without your symbiote, girl. It is well known from Eddie Brock that a symbiote host that does not possess inherent super powers is _nothing _without the enhancing capabilities of the symbiote. _You _are nothing, little 'Scarlet Widow'," he concluded, making mocking air-quotes to further rub in her helplessness.

"Go screw... yourself, dickhead. But then... again, _he _is... probably shorter... than New York's... area code... so better... forget I said... anything," Ranma muttered derisively, causing Felicia to quirk an amused smile despite their situation.

"Your insults are meaningless, little girl, for you wouldn't be able to recognise true greatness if it bit you in the bum," the super-villain retorted coolly, causing his captives to roll their eyes in exasperation. "The Black Cat," the Wizard continued seamlessly and waved his hand dismissively at the said silver-haired woman who was still kneeling behind Ranma, offering the blonde comfort, "is no threat seeing that she doesn't possess super powers either. There is _nothing _either of you can do," the armoured man exclaimed arrogantly. "And while we are waiting for the end of the process, I am certain you are curious as to how I knew about your symbiote, correct?"

Ranma opened her fists and grasped Felicia's hands as if to borrow strength from her, and with a feat of mental strength she managed to straighten herself up despite the immense pain, glaring at the arrogant man holding them captive with a look that communicated her utter fury and loathing. "Ya fuckin'... asshole talk... too much. I swear... I'll shut... ya up. And I'll tear ya... a new one... for doing that... to me... to us. I'll hunt... ya down, and... I'll get even." the blonde spat, slumping back into Felicia's embrace upon having delivered her threat, who muttered "I'll be glad to help."

"Oh, pardon me, you're in too much pain to think clearly, not to mention to be a participant in a meaningful conversation, otherwise you wouldn't sprout such nonsense. But I'll indulge you anyway," the Wizard mocked, causing Ranma to turn up her glare several notches both due to the man's arrogance as well as the fact that she was indeed unable to stop the separation process. "I of course knew of the Venom symbiote seeing that I had encountered its host Eddie Brock before, which is why I was very curious when my scans of you revealed that you were wearing such a symbiote. Is it an offspring?" he queried, completely ignoring the conflict that audibly raged outside as Sandman and Hydro-Man clashed repeatedly, the latter obviously managing to keep the former from coming to his team mates' rescue, much as Bentley Wittman had predicted.

"Go... to hell." Ranma ground out, noticing with absolute anger that Sym had slid down to below her waist, only her kneeling on the ground preventing her captor from getting a chance to see more of her private bits.

"I do not believe in an unproven religious concept such as that, only in hard, scientifically proven facts," Bentley Wittman replied in a superior tone, and his sneering face acquired a look of glee upon seeing that Sym had pooled at Ranma's feet completely. "Now enough of these truisms, the time has come to wrap things up.

"Miss Hardy, I'm not inhumane, so I'll allow you to aid your friend in stepping away at least five metres from the symbiote. Otherwise she will meet her demise," he said in a patronising tone while fingering a remote control. "On the other hand, maybe she would like to volunteer for proving hell exists?" Wittman taunted, grinning cruelly, the index finger of his right hand hovering over a button of his remote control.

Felicia sent the arrogant villain a death-glare in Ranma's stead as he walked over to another workbench with a cylindrical contraption standing in it's middle what with the blonde having gone almost catatonic upon the separations' completion, yet the Black Cat was forced to comply nonetheless and took Ranma into a fireman's carry, noticing with a breaking heart how the younger woman stretched out her right hand towards the symbiotic puddle in evident longing and desperation.

The silver haired woman tightened her grip on the younger woman and squeezed Ranma's left hand in a gesture that conveyed she felt for her, and was inwardly relieved when the blonde squeezed back ever so slightly, showing that she was still there. But unsurprisingly, her gaze remained glued to the spot her symbiote occupied, helplessness almost rolling off the blonde in waves.

"You just wait, Wittman, you'll get yours sooner or later," Felicia snarled heatedly, not letting go of the blonde after having reached the specified distance.

"Hardly," the villain retorted with an arrogant sneer and pressed a button that caused an opening of twenty by twenty centimetres to appear underneath the symbiote, some device sucking it in.

"No," Ranma exclaimed from within Felicia's arms, her voice thick with despair, absently noticing the tightening of the older woman's arms around her, "Nooooo!"

Just the Wizard's mocking laughter answered her as the villain stared at the cylindrical tube without even facing them, a mixture of impatience and anticipation prevalent on his face. Ranma, who was slowly recovering from the pain the forced separation had evoked, watched together with Felicia how the red and black substance that constituted Sym's body was pumped into the cylinder, her anger and fury almost palpable.

"You should abandon the hope that your little friend here will break free. This cell, for lack of better term, is equipped with sonic emitters that ensure the symbiote is rendered harmless. It was so easy for a man of my intellect to modify my equipment to suit my needs.

"You see, the cage was there all along as a booby-trap to capture the foolish, such as you," he waved his right hand arrogantly at the Felicia and Ranma, "as was the contraption to pump water and other materials in and out. Adding the sonic emitters as well as the graviton emitters to render you harmless once I knew you held a symbiote was child's play, almost beneath me," the Wizard elaborated smugly.

A grin spread on the man's face and he turned his head to face his captives, who were still glaring daggers at the super villain, and the man almost absently pressed another button that deactivated the sonic and gravitational bombardment. "I have what I wanted. Oh, and did you really believe a man of my intellect would be stupid enough to risk placing something as valuable as the replicator in danger?" he asked in mild amusement.

"Yeah we did, you arrogant shithead," Felicia shot back, her eyes glittering angrily as she stroked a shaking Ranma.

"Neither of you learn very well, do you? I'm above your silly insults as they are nothing more than an expression of your helpless anger, which in turn stems from your own incompetence," the Wizard retorted coolly, and it seemed he almost revelled in the furious glares his captives levelled at him. "Moving on, this," he pointed at the caged replicator, "is nothing but a facsimile. I lied when I said you might have succeeded in case I had accompanied my team. Your venture was destined to fail right from the start. Do you realise your inferiority now?" he queried gloatingly, and erupted in mocking laughter when no answers but death-glares were forthcoming from Felicia and Ranma.

Pressing another button the Wizard delighted in Ranma's and Felicia's looks of helpless fury, and a machine that looked exactly like the replicator standing on the workbench in the cage slid out of a wall-panel and onto the workbench ten metres to the Wizard's right, "This is the real replicator, which my genius made fully operational, and it will be my trump card in bringing about the downfall of the Fantastic Four," the man whispered almost reverently, an unholy glee shining in his eyes. "I succeeded where Richards failed, and his own invention will be his undoing. Isn't that ironically fitting?" he queried, only to erupt in gales of evil laughter.

Ranma, who had in the meantime fully recovered on the sly, thanked Felicia for her help with a heartfelt "Thank you," followed by a warm smile and a hug that lasted for several seconds and slowly eased out of the other woman's arms and easily came to stand on her own feet.

Felicia regarded her with a mixture of worry and surprise, but Ranma slowly shook her head and gave her a reassuring, genuine smile to assure the other woman that everything was okay. Ranma's smile turned grim and a look of fierce, unyielding determination and the desire to enact justice flashed in her eyes as she remembered the last words Sym had uttered before the separation process had been complete.

Ranma involuntarily cracked her knuckles as she replayed her symbiote's words in her mind: — _**Do not forget... about the powers... the Neko-ken... granted you...**_ _**and make... full use... of the cat... in you. Use... your claws. Goodbye... my host,**_ — Sym had managed to say shortly before the separation process had been complete, and now that she had sufficiently recovered the time to strike had come.

"There's an old saying, Wittman," Ranma sneered, causing the Wizard to swivel his head over to them, a brow arrogantly cocked. "Never sell the bear's fur when you haven't slain it!"

With that exclamation the butt-naked blonde unsheathed three twenty centimetres long claws made of iridescent energy on both hands, and before Bentley Wittman could even hope to react in any way or form Ranma had already repeatedly slashed away at the entrapping cage at Amaguriken speeds, cleaving right through the thick front of acrylic glass entrapping Felicia and her. Icy blue eyes locked on the Wizard as a myriad of glass shards sprayed outward and around her, and one pissed off martial artist zoned in on her target, colder and more precise than any homing device.

"Your long-winded and narcissistic speeches gave me the time I needed to recover, Wittman. Now I'm gonna kick your ass so hard that your grandfather's gonna feel it! Then, you die."

-.-

Ranma, who had seemingly turned into a stark-naked demonic fury complete with matching claws, seemed to disappear from the cage in a blur of movement, absently noting that an initially surprised, then delighted-looking Felicia followed her into freedom. Ranma's mind was filled with thoughts of revenge that threatened to overtake her consciousness in a red haze, but the calm and analytic part of her that had prospered in the last few weeks due to the symbiosis with Sym pushed the irrational, animalistic part down, seizing control.

Cold blue eyes glared at the Wizard who had chosen to bring a safe distance between himself and his potentially dangerous former captives by using his anti-gravity disks to ascend to five metres above ground level, a sneer forming on his face, "So you had an ace up your sleeve, little girl. Impressive. But unless you have wings or other possibilities of unassisted flight I fear your little display is ultimately useless, seeing that you are symbiote-less," he called, pressing another button and then another, "I do not feel inclined to test myself against your claws in hand-to-hand combat, though, which is why I called back the rest of my team. Leave now with your health intact, or suffer the consequences."

"You imprisoned me, literally tore off my symbiote, taunted and belittled me, all due to my own incompetence and arrogance, admittedly, and you, you arrogant asshole believe I'd just show the white flag like some li'l kindergarten girl just because your buddies are about to join ya? How stupid do you think I'm anyway? You'd kill us in a sec so no one learns the replicator thingie works!" Ranma shouted, glaring defiantly at the hovering man with her hands on her hips and fire flashing in her eyes.

"So you're not as stupid as you look. Will wonders ever cease?" the floating man retorted sarcastically and crossed his arms across his chest. "This is your last word, then?"

"Your fuckin' innuendos can go screw themselves! The answer is I'll never, ever trust someone like you, shithead! What's more, I won't leave without what's mine and your ugly face bashed in!" Ranma yelled angrily, her still brightly flaring claws lighting up with angry power.

"So be it, then. By the way, I have other ways to deal with insolent brats like you who don't know when to back off than lowering myself to engage you in physical combat, little girl. Taking my superior equipment into account you'll likely be a smear on the floor by the time my team returns, claws or no claws," Wittman returned coldly and aimed his gauntlets at the naked crime-fighter. "It's a pity to remove such a fine example of the female half of the species from the gene pool, but that only proves that stupidity is a trait that only serves to remove the fools from polluting the said gene pool. Good bye."

Electrical discharges were immediately emitted from the Wizard's gauntlets, the cold, uncaring and superior look in the man's eyes belying that he expected Ranma's imminent demise, yet the blonde stood her ground unafraid and glared challengingly at the super villain.

Felicia, likewise expecting the unenhanced blonde to be easy meat yelled a warning, yet she needn't have. For the spot where the potent electrical discharges impacted was suddenly vacant seeing as Ranma had blurred away in a burst of speed to reappear five metres to the left, right next to the water standpipe which she crushed with a quick motion of her right hand so as to assure that Hydro-Man wouldn't be able to spring a surprise on them, irregardless the fact that the said man of water was currently locked in battle with the man of sand.

Looking over her shoulder Ranma yelled, "Stay outta this, Kittie, the fucker's mine!" before blurring away again.

Distinct surprise shone in Felicia's eyes and she nodded dumbly, the silver-haired woman hastily guiding her steps to get out of the Wizard's line of sight and fire while Ranma continued to evade blasts of electricity courtesy of an enraged looking Wizard. "Damn," the Black Cat muttered to herself while blending in with her surroundings as much as possible, "not only is she absolutely gorgeous and has a tattoo that seriously rocks, but she kicks some mean ass even without her symbiote."

She slowly shook her head, her grin growing, "Man, that strength of hers really threw me for a loop just there when she crushed that pipe with one hand! And that speed she showed might just be even faster than Spidey's, and the way she moves is almost, yeah, cat-like!" she enthused and almost clapped her hands in glee. "Wonder if her brother's such a hunk of meat as well?" she mused to herself with a hungry gleam in her eyes and unconsciously licked her lips.

Shaking herself out of her slightly amorous fantasies Felicia continued to watch the battle from her vantage point, her awe growing at what her partner could do.

-.-

As much as Ranma was enjoying taunting Bentley Wittman with his inability to hit her with his electrical blasts with which he peppered the ground, she was slowly growing tired of paying him back for his arrogance by just belittling the arrogant man. He deserved far worse for what he had dared to do, and once complete she'd dish out what he deserved. Bentley Wittman would get what was coming for him, that Ranma vowed to herself.

Feinting to the right she immediately blurred to the left, and the Wizard, realising what she intended to do, yelled out "You'll never be able to even damage the cell! It's unbreakable!", but Ranma, having instinctively known to use the heavy artillery, rushed forward and screamed "Infinity Blades", a battery of six ethereal seeming blades of yellow energy—which were nothing but renamed vacuum blades—being unleashed from her hands, heading directly for the cylinder holding Sym.

To Ranma it seemed as if her symbiote was literally bubbling with excitement inside her cage as if knowing that soon they'd be reunited, the knowledge that her attack would be the undoing of the stupid lock-up holding her symbiote captive making Ranma almost giddy. The certainty that her attack wouldn't harm Sym but most certainly destroy the container filled the blonde with a warm, fuzzy feeling of anticipation, and a confident smirk spread on her face.

"We shall see about that, goatee!" Ranma yelled back in answer to the Wizard's declaration right after having brought her destructive attack on course and glared up at the Wizard for the brief moments the blades needed to cross the distance before her gaze returned to the cylinder, Bentley Wittman following her example with his arms crossed over his chest in a smug and confident demeanour.

As soon as the cracking of glass and the failure of electronic equipment could be heard a completely focussed Ranma was already in motion, uncaring that the Wizard's mouth was hanging open in a very undignified yet accurate imitation of a fish, the blonde cartwheeling repeatedly to cover the thirty metres dividing her from her lost symbiote.

Said symbiotic creature was flowing at a quick pace towards her host at the same time, her intent to join up apparent, however, Ranma was briefly forced to unleash a volley of vacuum blades at the still hovering super villain who had loudly expressed his displeasure and who was about to blast them, her pre-emptive strike forcing him to take evasive action. The distraction bought symbiote and symbiote-less host the time they needed, and with a shout of glee—verbally on Ranma's part, at least—they literally jumped at each other.

The Wizard, who had in the meantime gathered his bearings, could only watch in impotent anger as the black and red mass began to coalesce with the woman down below. It began at her feet, and rapidly crept up the lower half of her body from where it flowed on. The red and black mass finally covered everything, forming the combat suit complete with gaping maw filled with pointy, razor-sharp ink-black teeth, and a multitude of deadly tendrils shot out from everywhere. Ranma slowly lifted her head to stare at the floating super villain with an unsettling gaze of the creepy white pools that served as her eyes while flexing her claws, a feeling of malice and bloodlust radiating off of her.

Scarlet Widow was back, and she was out for blood.

**to be continued...**

Some quick notes:

– Sym's weakness to sonics: has been impressively revealed, I'd say. But just like Carnage in canon, this massive exposure will lead to the symbiote developing a damn good resistance against this particular weakness.

– Ranma's and Sym's separation: had to be done. It was the perfect way to bring Ranma and Felicia closer, and it serves another purpose as well. Which? Now that'd be telling.

– things developing awfully fast between Ranma and Felicia: I admit that to be the case (with this chapter giving additional evidence as well), yet I have my reasons. Just wait what happens when male Ranma is revealed to Felicia and you guys will have your answers. But rest assured, initial attraction there may be, yet that doesn't equal Bam! successful relationship for the rest of their lives and they lived happily ever after.

– Ranma rejecting the Tendos and Saotomes as well as focussing too much on them instead of the unknown mastermind: KGB raised some good points in that regard, but I'd say Ranma's inner monologue should have cleared things up.

– Sym being able to manipulate the genetic code: does extent neither to the symbiote being able to create other people's blood to frame them nor to it being able to produce specific chemical substances. Changing Ranma's genes is only made possible due to the fact that Nodoka has Caucasian ancestry in my story. The genes are there, in other words, it's just the question of activating slash changing them.

– traits carried over from previous hosts/Sym's predecessor: Ranma will have a greater affinity to acquiring information and working/thinking scientifically due to Peter Parker's and Eddie Brock's 'imprints'. Nothing overly exaggerated, though. It's the same as with Ranma's downright prodigal learning curve s/he exhibited on more than one occasion as well as the faster than average healing, this has carried over into Sym's genetic memory.

– Ranma's strength level with and w/o Sym: some good points were raised that Ranma might be a lot stronger, but I'll stick to the upper limits I set. Okay, in the Marvel 'verse where the Hulk is able to lift 150 billion tonnes and more—that was the weight of a mountain range he once lifted, look it up at wiki, the comment was posted related to the 'World War Hulk' storyline—it doesn't seem to matter, really, but I don't wanna make him/her too Gary Stuish/Mary Sueish. S/he'll have to train hard for more strength and power.

– Sable's involvement in clearing Ranma's name: that remains to be seen, but I can see her taking an active role once this knowledge is made available to her.

– Ranma training others: Felicia is a given, Spidey probably as well, Prowler and Sable are candidates as well.

– other symbiotes: will most definitely show up.

– Sandman: I'm really leaning towards making him a permanent part of the team. That doesn't mean that Ranma won't have solo time and lots of it, but rather that the trio will be doing missions together from time to time. But it is as someone said, Sandman has amazing powers, yet got a bad rep for being a moron, and now that he's turned away from crime he'll soon see that it has its benefits. That said, I do not like what happened to him in canon. Not. One. Bit.

– the Nerima situation: as said, I'll be doing a Nerima interlude—or two—to show what's been going on in good ole chaos central. Gotta wrap things up in regards of the mission first, though.

Thank you for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

Dumbledork, James Axelrad, Jerry Unipeg, Nysk, Peter Kim, mystery person, AzureSky123, ACTE, Upgrade, oblivionknight7, hmr, Innortal, nonono, Rei Tamashii, Tommy Oliver Brachio Black, yosh!, ranko lina Inverse, AMWOOD co, Howard Russell, KaiserPhoenix, Jago Li Son Shiranui, ranger5, Eric13, TenWings, richexs, Martrex, Sargon Dorsai, michael68, Gangsta Spanksta, Dracomancer1, nonono, Wonderbee31, Abudharma, Dragon Man 180, Kurt Baros aka The Falcon, Pryde Kitty, Silverscale, TegwenielWestwind, ranma hibiki, Mesterio, Jax9, Sdarian, Paver83, Anonymous, The Eromancer, Screaming Dean, Bobboky, dogbertcarroll, Lord Oberon, Gefallenen Engel, JohnnyG, Honebar, Aaah-Chaaa, shadowbndg, GrizzlyBiscuit, Tadano Ian, Wellin, Nairojam, SSJ Guyver1, migele, JohnJr, Redzorin, KGB, Rignach, drvash, Krimzonrayne, Getzeye Dragon1, New lord of darkness, masaki yang yi1, deathgeonous, DAPC, Paul Varela, GIMME MORE, firelordeg

**Last but not least, thanks to my prereader JohnnyG for services rendered!**

v. 1.2: corrected several minor errors, suggestions made by reviewers implemented.


	10. Coming Clean

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 10: Coming clean**

It was about half past nine on March 11th, 1995, the day that marked the first mission of Scarlet Widow and The Black Cat in the employment of Silver Sable. What should have been a routine late evening mission in retrieving an apparatus belonging to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four had almost gone horribly wrong, though, seeing as their adversary, The Wizard, had expected them and had known about Scarlet Widow's nature as a symbiote host, as well as her weaknesses.

Luckily Ranma, formerly of the Saotome clan in Tokyo, Japan, and due to unfavourable circumstances now clanless ronin living in New York City, yet better known to the public as Scarlet Widow, had had a few aces up her sleeve; her status as a high-powered martial artist as well as the abilities granted by the integrated Neko-ken ensuring that they had pulled through by the skin of their teeth.

It had just been two minutes ago that they had escaped the trap Bentley Wittman, aka The Wizard, had sprung on them. During said escape Ranma had luckily been able to reunite with the alien symbiote the aforementioned super villain had managed to separate from her by shattering the container that had held Sym, Ranma's symbiote. Now one pissed off ex-Saotome, aided by her friend and partner Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, was looking forward to skewer the man that had so hurt them.

The newly remerged Scarlet Widow barely took the time to rejoice at finally being whole again seeing that she had vengeance to extract, only basking in the comfort of feeling her symbiote against her skin for the briefest of moments. The time for celebrating their reunion would come later, now it was time to pay back a certain pompous super-villain who had so greatly wronged them.

-.-

To call Ranma just a vision of fury incarnate would have been a grave understatement. Even the elements seemed to hail her mood, thunder rolling in the distance, the promise of an approaching thunderstorm being palpable in the air. The blonde symbiote host could have cared less about the weather, though, as she stood in the middle of the same old, abandoned factory building in which she had partaken in an underground tournament not four weeks ago. This time around her agenda was not to earn vast amounts of money, though, but to accomplish a mission; a mission, that had turned a lot more personal within the last ten minutes.

Felicia was holding herself in the background, something Ranma subconsciously registered with relief; it just wouldn't do for the Wizard to either gain a hostage or to, even worse, injure the Black Cat or Kami forbid, kill her. The Wizard had done enough damage already, and no one would harm even one hair on Felicia's body as long as she, Ranma, breathed.

The angry martial artist was in her full 'monster form', Ranma sporting a gaping maw with many deadly looking teeth, talons that looked like they could rip anything in half, and added to that, the substance that comprised her costume was a mixture of red and black that oddly reminded of blood instead of her usual Scarlet Widow costume.

That coupled with the fact that the young woman was surrounded by hundreds of tendrils equipped with incredibly sharp looking tips would have been enough to make anyone nervous, but that she radiated enough loathing and intent to kill to make a Geiger counter go haywire would have made any mortal tremble in fear.

Bentley Wittman however, better known under his assumed alias of the Wizard, a brilliant, evil genius of quite some renown, had vowed early on in life to never be average, the man being someone who absolutely prided himself in not being a mere mortal but someone special.

Thus, due to his practiced, almost inbuilt arrogance, the man easily overcame the faint traces of apprehension that had come bubbling to the surface upon seeing Ranma's full combat form and knowing that her weaponry wasn't just for show, his well-practised sneer appearing on his face as he regarded Ranma like one would a bug. "Do you really think you'd evoke an emotional reaction in me other than amusement by turning into something out of a bad horror movie, li'l girl?" he asked derisively, sarcasm literally dripping off his words.

Ranma stared back at the hovering form of Bentley Wittman with a look of deep loathing, the hatred literally rolling off of her in waves. The voice in her head shared her sentiment, which blew rational thought almost completely out the window. "You captured us, tortured us, and you had the brass to separate us, which is the worst thing ever to do to a host and symbiote, and as if that had not been enough, you had the utter gall to gloat over it.

"You believe your so called genius makes you better than others, allows you to do as you please, but now we shall force you to acknowledge us as your betters. And then we will pay you back in kind!" Ranma ground out, unleashing a multitude of insanely fast moving tendrils at the Wizard.

"Not so fast, little bitch," a gravelly voice called out from behind, causing Ranma to whirl around, her tendrils grasping at nothing but air due to the anger and surprise she felt at seeing Felicia being held in a vice-grip by a darkly clothed man who was wearing a skull-like mask, his masked face further shrouded by a white hood.

— _**This is the villain by the name of Taskmaster. He is a master martial artist and can, at least to a certain degree, mimic the physical movements of anyone he witnesses. He is a low to medium security risk, yet that he managed to apprehend Felicia is-**_ —

Ranma didn't take the time to let Sym finish, and before the symbiote had even concluded the sentence the blonde had already appeared behind Taskmaster, giving the man not even the time to feel surprise. A chop to the temple dealt out so fast she left after-images yet soft enough to not kill felled Taskmaster before the man even knew what was going on, and before the furious Wizard could do more than utter the beginnings of a curse Ranma had already blurred away to reappear right next to the specific section of the southern wall where she surmised Sandman and Hydro-Man to be.

Felicia had sufficiently recovered in the meantime, and smiled up at Ranma. "See? Everything turned out okay, and thanks for saving me a few secs back. That bony asshole managed to catch me by surprise."

"I have to thank _you_, Felicia," Ranma replied, gratitude and a smile audible in her voice. "I dunno if I'd have held up so well without you. But more to that later, now we're gonna make us a break-through."

Rearing back her right arm while holding Felicia securely Ranma let her fist fly, her punch creating a massive hole in the warehouse wall. Not wasting a second the blonde commanded her tendrils to clear out the hole, a task that was completed in seconds.

Uncaring for now that the Wizard wasn't actively pursuing them due to having other priorities for the time being, like getting Felicia to safety so that the opposition couldn't use her as ransom again, Ranma stepped through the hole and out onto the dirt road, involuntarily taking a deep breath of the cool air.

"Flint!" she yelled after having spied the battling Sandman and Hydro-Man round about fifty metres to their right. "Abort attack and join my position!"

Puzzlement briefly showed on Flint's face, then the man of sand gave a shrug and disengaged his former teammate, heading for Ranma's and Felicia's position as quick as lightning with Hydro-Man in hot pursuit. "Thought ya were married, Flint! How come this bird can order ya around andcha obey like a dog? Lost your balls, Flint?" Morrie Bench taunted as he gave chase.

Flint's angry expression clearly conveyed his want to make Morrie eat his words, yet he chose to put it off for the missions' sake. For now. Reaching his teammates' position he barely had the chance to form the word "Wha—" before Felicia was being handed to him by a Ranma who had met them halfway, the Black Cat only having time to look up at her partner in surprise.

"Take her to safety, Flint. I'm gonna hunt down the Wizard, and I don't wanna have Felicia anywhere close in case I bring the building down 'round our ears," the blonde exclaimed urgently, stopping the Black Cat's "What the hell do you think-" with a hand. "Not now, kittie, please. You can give me a piece of your mind later, but now shoo, I've gotta stop that aquatic idiot before I'm gonna kick some Wizard ass. Go!"

Flint threw a look at the rapidly approaching Hydro-Man, then another at Ranma, and shrugged when the blonde stood her ground with unyielding determination. "Give them hell, babe," he said, turned around and sped away in his sand form, carrying a disgruntled and angrily cursing Felicia Hardy securely in his arms.

"She's cute when she's angry," mused Ranma to herself, and wryly chuckling to herself she briefly shook her head, well knowing that she would be in for one hell of a tongue-lashing once this was all over, and her face darkened as her eyes locked on the rapidly approaching Hydro-Man. "For being part of the reason I'm gonna get a giant headache, for being in league with the asshole that tortured us so, prepare to be vaporised!" she growled, brought her tendrils out as well as the massive spikes she had formed on several occasions and ran straight at her adversary.

Hydro-Man just let out a guffaw, and in an instant he was upon Ranma, completely encasing her with his watery body, her weapons doing little more than distorting his watery form to some degree. Bench's wicked and triumphant smile might have faltered had he been able to see behind Ranma's mask, for instead of sporting a surprised or worried look she was grinning darkly. Scarlet Widow was about to unleash her fury, and one unfortunate Morrie Bench, better known as Hydro-Man, was the first in line.

-.-

Positioned on top of the rooftop of the same warehouse Felicia and Ranma had initially crossed when they had advanced into enemy territory, Flint Marko and Felicia Hardy were literally standing at the edge of the building, expressions of worry plainly visible on their faces.

Both heroes in the employment of Silver Sable watched with narrowed eyes as their partner—and to one of them, friend—and Hydro-Man clashed, Sandman shaking his head. "What the hell's she playin' at? From what she's shown she ain't never been stupid enough to play to an enemy's strengths, but here she's runnin' into her doom!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation, Felicia having muttered "Bloody hell, I know what she's playing at, and it's brilliant."

"Didn't know you cared, Flint," Felicia said out loud in a light tone, curiously wearing a smile instead of the worried and anxious look Sandman would have expected from her as she looked at him. "But you got it wrong, she's far from running into her doom. First, she's far too clever for that, and second, she's just plain simple not allowed to. I have a few bones to pick with missy down there, and she better not get herself killed before I'm through with her." she concluded calmly yet seriously, crossing her arms under her breasts.

Flint was about to reply, but his eyes were glued to the spot in which Ranma and Hydro-Man would clash in mere seconds, and the instant that happened and Hydro-Man encased her with his watery body he cursed like a sailor. "Now she's at his mercy! Why did ya listen to her, Flint ya fuckin' idiot! I should have stayed, damn, I'm the only one here who can meet Morrie on equal terms!" he exploded, raking his right hand through his hair.

"Flint, calm down for a moment and remember what she did to you in her application fight," Felicia continued as calmly as before, causing Flint to slowly turn his head to look at her.

Anger, confusion, and then finally understanding flashed in his eyes as he caught onto what Felicia was getting at, "You mean…?" he finally uttered, his eyes slowly widening.

"Yes, and I suppose our dear Hydro-Man is in for a downright chilling experience," Felicia concluded, a dark smile playing in the corners of her mouth.

-.-

A matching dark smile was currently present on Ranma's face as well, yet said smile slowly gave way to a slightly worried look. **'Sym, the pressure that guy's exhibiting is getting a tad… uncomfortable. Mind closing the pores to give him less of a working surface?'**

— _**Not in the least, Ranma, at least not normally. I have to admit to my consternation, though, that the pressure exhibited by the man named **__**Morrie**__** Bench exceeds what I can call up on as counterforce. **__**Which indicates that he is physically stronger than us.**__** Due to the fact that you failed to inhale deeply prior to impact you have… forty-five seconds before oxygen levels get critical. **_—

**'What?'** Ranma yelled disbelievingly in her mind, and her body briefly thrashed within the watery prison Hydro-Man's body formed around her own, causing the man to grin wickedly. **'Now that's just ****fuckin****' peachy, Sym! Harrumph, just why does the ****fuckin****' world seem to think I work best when under pressure?'** the blonde groused while closing her eyes in concentration.

— _**Considering our present situation a most peculiar choice of wording, Ranma,**_ — Sym commented wryly.

**'Whatever, Sym.**** Now eat this, Bench. ****SOUL OF ICE!'** Ranma thought fiercely as she delved into her huge reservoir of ki, literally encasing herself in an aura of pure, arctic coldness to which's strength Sym's augmentation greatly added, and the temperature in the vicinity abruptly dropped to far below the freezing point.

Even Sandman and Felicia felt an icy chill sweep over them a good kilometre away that made them shudder, and Morrie Bench barely had time to register surprise when his whole watery body was suddenly subjected to the chilling experience of being frozen from within. Before the man could even contemplate letting go of the woman who was apparently the cause for the sudden change in his aggregate phase the feeling increased in intensity and began to spread further, ever faster.

Hydro-Man's body visibly solidified into ice from the inside out with the process evidently accelerating, and the man's mouth opened in a frightened scream, horror and surprise visibly edged into his face, yet the scream only lasted for a few moments before it abruptly stopped, the complete process not having taken more than a few seconds.

An ice statue of round about three metres height stood in the spot Hydro-Man had previously occupied, and were it not for the look of abject horror on the man's face as well as the fact that a second, barely visible person seemed to be trapped inside the body of the ice statue, one might have mistaken it for modern art.

Everything remained quiet, almost eerily so, for a few moments, then, of a sudden, miniature fissures began to spread from the centre of the statue's body, the cracks radiating off into all directions, thickening as they spread.

The observers would later on swear they had heard a loud yell from within Hydro-Man's frozen body—something, which one ex-Saotome would vehemently deny as completely beneath her—shortly prior to the violent explosion of aforementioned body, the explosion sending ice chunks into all directions.

In the epicentre of the explosion one could make out a young, costumed woman resting on her knees and hands as she panted for breath, yet her apparent need to fill her lungs with precious oxygen only lasted for a few seconds. Then the woman known to the public as Scarlet Widow jumped smoothly to her feet, her footsteps echoing on the dirt road shortly before she blurred away, leaving her defeated and literally crumbled opponent behind.

-.-

A rooftop away a duo of mercenaries shared a look, and Flint Marko lowly whistled, unveiled approval shining in his eyes. "Now that's the way to kick Morrie's lousy ass, damn it!" he exclaimed, punching his balled right fist into the open palm of his left hand.

"She didn't kill him, did she, Flint?" Felicia queried, somewhat worried that her friend might have gone somewhat off the deep end due to the things that had happened to her courtesy of the Wizard.

Curious brown eyes locked on intense green ones as Sandman swivelled his head to regard Felicia. "Would your opinion of her suffer if she had?" he queried, keeping his face and voice as neutral as possible.

Felicia seemed to think for a few seconds before coming to an answer. "Honestly? No. Conflicts with lethal outcomes do happen in our bizz, and waterboy _was_ trying to kill her after all. She has already demonstrated in the past that she is willing to kill when necessary or when she deems people wanting. So, no. Her actions don't make her a bad person, just someone who does the things she thinks needs to be done. Wouldn't you agree?" she replied, her gaze focussed inward initially yet gaining more confidence throughout her speech until she stared at Sandman downright challengingly.

Sandman quickly held up his hands, a chuckle escaping him. "Hey, hey. No need in tryin' to convince me Scar's not Freddie Kruger's little sis, I know that already. And I could really care less if she offs those she deems wanting seein' that she seems to know what she's doing. Besides, she's already proven herself to me in our little fight, and how she held out today only served to increase my respect for her."

"Hmm," Felicia thought about it, "I can live with that. Now move your sandy ass and get us down into that hall, Flint. I wanna be there to see her kick the Wizard's ass."

A sigh escaped Flint Marko. "I guess arguing ain't gonna do me any good?" he queried, adding, "Thought not," upon seeing Felicia's look.

Hiding a smile of his own—he wanted to see that particular fight every bit as much as Felicia after all, Ranma's orders be damned—Sandman scooped the Black Cat up into his arms and headed for warehouse eight.

-.-

Ranma's senses were on high alert as she entered the warehouse under heavy stealth not a kilometre away from Sandman's and Felicia's position. By his own admission Bentley Wittman had only been able to spring a trap on her due to the fact that she had been careless. Her invisibility techniques _had_ worked as advertised, yet she had employed them too late, giving that dickhead a chance to get a lock on her. Once he had known to be on guard the man had easily been able to pinpoint her location once she had dropped her cloak.

Now, she wouldn't be making this particular mistake again, for this time around she wouldn't drop her invisibility until shortly before applying the killing blow she thought darkly, as she sped through the hole she had created earlier on.

Quickly crawling up the wall Ranma brought herself into a position to utilise the bird's eye perspective, quickly noticing that the Wizard was standing in front of the workbench holding the real replicator. The man was apparently working frantically on the blinking machine, and he was not alone.

Positioned in front of Bentley Wittman stood the reawakened Taskmaster, and another tall man in a navy blue costume with an ochre pattern running down his torso stood to his right, forming a loose semi-circle around their leader. That both men kept on swivelling their heads to spot possible intruders raised Ranma's amusement; their watchfulness would be utterly futile.

— _**This is former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Frank Payne a.k.a. the Constrictor. He does not possess super powers, yet is a skilled unarmed combatant. The most noteworthy detail pertaining to his person is that he exclusively relies on his primary weapons, a pair of electrified, prehensile wrist-mounted metal coils. All things considered he poses little to no threat, and that the Wizard positioned these two as apparent canon fodder suggests he is trying to buy time,**_ — Sym analysed.

**'Agreed.**** Seeing that I wouldn't put anything past that dickhead he might be trying to pull another trick outta the hat. Better ****to ****strike him hard 'n' fast,'** Ranma thought back, having crossed the distance separating her from the villains while her symbiote had given her the background information.

— _**Affirmative. We are ready and set, Ranma. Let us show what happens to those who try to separate us,**_ — Sym replied, and it came as no surprise to Ranma that her symbiote sounded eager, bordering on bloodthirsty.

**'Let's,'** Ranma affirmed coldly and soundlessly crawled down the wall, jumping down the last two metres and landing on her feet equally soundlessly.

Making her way over to the men's position like a silent jungle cat on the prowl she blurred forward in a burst of speed, appearing behind Taskmaster who was closest to her position, dropped her invisibility and the man in one fell swoop with a well placed chop to the neck, sending him on an involuntary trip to the land of nod for the second time that day.

Taskmaster dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes and Ranma appearing from thin air in their midst unsurprisingly alerted the other two men to her presence, yet the costume-clad blonde calmly deflected Constrictor's coil-enhanced right-handed forward swipe with her left and knocked him away with a straight right-handed forward punch that sent him flying against the far wall, the impact knocking the man unconscious.

Her knocking the Wizard's third henchman out coincided with Bentley Wittman's triumphant shout of, "Hah! It worked!" as well as Felicia and Sandman entering the scene.

Ranma, who had whirled around to see what it was that had the man so elated, widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing a familiar black and red substance being contained within the replicator.

"Oh shit! Just when did he have the time to scan Sym with that replicator thingie?" Ranma muttered to herself, not liking the situation one bit.

— _**Probably during the time you were captured,**_ — Sym theorised. — _**You must ensure that the other me does not come into contact with Bentley Wittman. She might be disoriented and feel compelled to bond with him, and we cannot allow that. **_—

Dread began to grow within Ranma as her imagination showed her a symbiote-enhanced Wizard, and she literally threw herself forward just as the super villain began to extend his hand so as to open the lid barring the replicator shut, praying to each and every deity that might hear her silent prayer to grant her speed, knowing deep in her heart that it'd be as close a call as it would ever get.

-.-

Ranma heard herself exclaiming a loud yell of "Noooo!" as her body gathered speed to overcome the round about three metres separating her from the Wizard, and the blonde grind her teeth hard as she poured all of her ki into her speed.

The extra burst of energy her emergency reserves provided her with propelled Ranma forward at speeds that'd have made any freight train envious, and to everyone else it seemed that a red and black blur tackled the armoured super villain just in the second where his hand pushed the button to open the lid.

Felicia and Flint looked on in confusion as Ranma landed on the ground only to come up in a roll the same second as the Wizard was sent flying backwards towards a far wall, but what really threw them for a loop was a black and red mass baring a striking resemblance to Sym.

The other symbiote's exploding forcefully from the replicator caused the machine to have a severe case of indigestion resulting in its prompt implosion, yet the other symbiote wasn't impressed in the least and headed straight for Felicia and Flint.

Ranma on her part swivelled her head over to their position, a look of worry mixed with anger appearing on her face. "Why do they never do what they've been told?" she groused, watching with trepidation as the red and black mass she surmised to be a replica of Sym headed straight for her friends.

Sandman on his part had realised in the meantime what was going on and tried to make his body as hard as possible with Felicia held within him in a protective bubble, but the Sandman taking on his stone-form didn't seem to deter the symbiote in the slightest.

— _**She will not be stopped by his armour. The disorientation of coming into existence like that has passed and she has picked a suitable host, not lest due to being influenced by our notions of your mate,**_ — Sym spoke up within Ranma's mind, a definite note of relief audible in her mental voice. — _**However, this will complicate things.**_ —

Ranma didn't reply right off, but the low, despairing moan escaping her said more than words, "Why does it always have to be this way? Why do others always get dragged into my problems?" she complained, unable to take her eyes away from the spectacle that was about to happen.

Not even the despairing yell of "No!" coming from the Wizard who had apparently caught himself by using his anti-gravity discs before impacting the wall could deter the blonde from watching events unfold, and then, unsurprisingly, the symbiote punched right through Sandman's stone form, the surprised expression on Flint's face almost being comical as he gazed at the 'entry wound' in his stomach.

A gasp of surprise could be heard from within the formerly protective cavity, and knowing full well that they'd have to roll with the punches anyway seeing that events had been set it motion neither of them could stop, Flint Marko let go of Felicia's body, carefully setting the surprised woman to her feet.

The scene they gazed upon confirmed what Ranma, Flint and even the Wizard had surmised, and unsurprisingly the latter reacted the strongest to seeing the replicated symbiote bonding to the former cat burglar. A loud, angry yell escaped the man upon seeing final proof that his plans had been thwarted, and he shook an angry fist at the mercenaries, "You will pay for this insolence!" the diminutive man screamed indignantly, and electrical energy sparkled into life around his gauntlets.

Ranma, who needn't look at Felicia to know that the copy of Sym was currently in the process of bonding to the silver-haired woman much as Sym had done to her back then and that everything was in order over there, menacingly turned around to face the man.

"Hadn't you yelled and alerted me to your presence I might have been preoccupied with ensuring my friend over there was doing okay, but knowing full well what's happening to her and having the reassurance that everything is abso-fucking-lutely A-okay I can direct my full attention to you and have a clear conscience about it. Isn't that wonderful? Now die!" she exclaimed, ending in an angry yell after having started out more or less calmly.

That said Ranma jumped all the way up to the ceiling, and in performing a somersault in mid-air she landed feet-first on said ceiling, using it as a running surface as easily as the 'normal' ground. Her hands morphed into wicked looking weapons during her sprint, the right arm turning into a forty centimetre halberd while the left transformed into something resembling a nail gun, and before she had even reached the floating and very surprised man's position the blonde had already opened fire on her target.

A panicked look appeared on Bentley Wittman's face as he frantically used his anti-gravity disc's ability of unassisted flight to manoeuvre himself out of harms way, yet he wasn't able to evade the hailstorm of projectiles completely. One 'nail' graced his cheek and caused a bleeding wound, and the glare with which the Wizard laced Ranma was as venomous as anything Ryoga or Mousse had ever mustered.

Yet as he continued to evade Ranma's attacks and countered with electrical discharges and gravity blasts the certainty that he had lost across the board became glaringly obvious to the Wizard, and he ceased his attempts to strike back at the furious blonde.

A defiant snarl showed on his face as he changed course towards the ground, coaxing the maximum speed out of his discs, and using the Sandman's momentary distraction as well as the fact that Ranma wasn't fast enough to redirect her tendrils in accordance with his changes of course allowed him to touch down beside his henchmen, Ranma in hot pursuit.

Still glaring at the approaching Ranma he hoisted the unconscious men over his shoulders and briefly shook his right fist at her. "You'll pay for crossing me, little girl. This isn't the last you have seen of me, and I vow that I'll get my vengeance!"

His declaration made the Wizard literally shot into the air like a rocket with Ranma touching down on the ground a few seconds too late, and a blast of compressed gravity waves emitted from Bentley Wittman's gauntlets blasted a sizeable hole into the ceiling. Snarling in anger Ranma sent as much of Sym out as she dared, and the tendrils that now pursued the super villain thickened into massive rope-like tendrils.

Sym, who was not agreeing with her hosts' course of action and Ranma's heavy reliance on her abilities piped up, — _**Ranma, trying to get him via our tendrils **__**proposes a probability of success less than thirty percent. You should use **__energy blasts__** instead.**_ —

But Ranma gave no indication that she had even heard her symbiote in her rage-induced state, the redhead continuing to hunt the elusive Wizard with her tendrils. Sym gave a mental shake of her head and raised the volume of her voice, _**— RANMA! Stop this illogical approach**__** now**__**! RANMA! —**_ the symbiote exclaimed urgently and with a hint of annoyance in her normally so calm and composed voice, but as before, her host didn't react.

Sym's hands were literally tied due to the fact that she could not resort to more drastic measures than yelling at her host because of Ranma being in a situation where she needed the full range of their abilities, and the symbiotic being would have liked nothing more than to bang her head against something solid in frustration.

Getting through to Ranma without distracting her so much that she might make a fatal mistake that might give their enemy a chance to hurt them or their mate proved to be impossible; Ranma was just too hell-bent on squeezing the life out of the Wizard for his deeds, came there hell or high water.

Realising that she could do naught Sym released the lid on their hidden reserves. If she could not get Ranma to use more reasonable methods to fillet Bentley Wittman, she'd do her level-best to aid her host. Ranma had come out on top in the past despite overwhelming odds pitted against her after all, maybe a thirty percent success rate would be all the martial artist needed.

A grunt of satisfaction escaped Ranma as she became aware of the additional power flowing through her, and a satisfied grin appeared on her face as she noticed that her tendrils had become much faster and more flexible. With a shout of glee she redirected her tendrils to adapt to the new course the Wizard had adopted, her greedy appendages drawing nearer and nearer to the man she so sought to punish.

Bentley Wittman realised the increased danger he and his companions were in, and panicking for the first time he completely jettisoned caution and forced his anti gravity discs to operate well beyond their capacity limits. This desperate manoeuvre that could have just as easily destroyed the discs resulted in a massive boost of speed that literally catapulted the three villains out of the hall and into the night sky, to safety.

With a call of "I'll be back!" the Wizard vanished into the night, his declaration shortly followed by a loud, angry scream of someone deprived of their revenge.

-.-

One thoroughly spent ex-Saotome slowly sunk to her knees, completely ignorant to the happenings around her. Her mind kept on going over how she had been deprived of her just revenge, and all the different punishments she had conceived for the Wizard once she'd have him in her hands.

Ranma's mood progressively darkened until she let her tendrils lash out wildly at her surroundings, part of her costume punching straight through different apparatuses in the way, bits and pieces of machinery flying in all directions as a result. "How dare he flee," the blonde groused, clenching and unclenching her hands. "How dare that coward flee from his just punishment!" she growled, her desire to maim and destroy something ever growing.

Just as she was about to pilfer more innocent apparatuses Sym's chiding voice spoke up inside her mind, bringing her tirade to a grinding halt, —_**As**__** much I can understand your feelings seeing that I share them, should you not be more concerned about Felicia? She is bonding to a copy of me after all, and do you not remember the anxiety and **__**confusion you felt upon this incident? You should be **__**over**__** there instead of venting your frustrations in a non-productive manner,**_ — the symbiote said sternly. — _**And had you listened to me when I suggested the use of energy blasts you would not be sitting here and cursing. Now I suggest you get down there**__** and **__**look how Felicia is holding up.**_ —

"I-I…" Ranma stammered, lost for words for a few moments due to the fact that Sym's words rung true, and she bowed her head in shame. "You're completely, absolutely right, Sym. My selfish behaviour was inadequate, thanks for telling me," she replied solemnly.

— _**That**__** is what partners are there for, is it not?**_ — the symbiote queried with a hint of amusement vibrating in her mental voice, her gaiety only increasing when her host got to her feet and turned worried eyes at Felicia's position. — _**I seem to have touched a nerve there,**_ — Sym thought in the private partition of her mind. — _**Yet **__**that things**__** happened the way they did opens up a lot of possibilities, not all of them good.**_ —

Oblivious to her symbiote's more private thoughts Ranma smoothly stalked over to where Sandman was helplessly watching how the new symbiote bonded with Felicia, her approach attracting Flint Marko's attention. Worried brown eyes gazed at her, and Ranma, almost being entirely sure that Flint Marko had already seen her face when she had been held captive by the Wizard, let her facemask fade away, her costume forming a collar below her neckline.

Her equally worried blue eyes met Flint's brown orbs, communicating that she was as troubled as he was, Sandman briefly inclining his head before looking back at Felicia. A Felicia who was almost completely covered by the combat suit, and whose focus was noticeably turned inwards.

A slow smile began to tuck at the corners of Ranma's lips, and the blonde guessed the nature of the discussion that was probably currently being held between symbiote and host, and the wonder that was currently showing on Felicia's face caused the smile to broaden. It was only when Ranma considered the fallout that could result from this unexpected bond between Felicia and this copy of Sym that her smile faltered.

-.-

**Two minutes ago**

Felicia Hardy knew she should feel freaked out when the red and black substance literally tore through the protective bubble Flint Marko had formed around her body, but when the goo-like substance began to coalesce with her she could not help but to absently note that it didn't feel painful, or even uncomfortable.

She absently noticed that Flint had set her to her feet, but paid it little to no attention. What was happening in the 'inside world' was of much greater importance, and Felicia concentrated completely on the bonding process that was currently taking place.

From having listened to Scar she knew that it could be considered an honour to have been selected a symbiote host at all, especially by this special brand of symbiote Scar's 'Sym' seemed to be. That line of thought brought her to one of a multitude of questions that were forming in her mind, and deciding to just act on impulse she queried, **'Hello, can you hear me?'**

— _**But of course. Would prefer me to call you Host Felicia or just Felicia? Gauging from the memories of my… predecessor her host prefers to be called just 'Ranma',**_ — the new symbiote replied.

**'Ranma, eh?**** So Scar's real name is Ranma. Hmm, that's not your everyday name. ****Very interesting, that.**** But to return to topic, you can call me Felicia. No need to be so stuffy and formal,'** Felicia replied jovially, noting with interest that her new symbiote continued the covering process, much as she had witnessed not ten minutes ago with Ranma. **'While we're at it, what do you want me to call you? Ranma calls her symbiote 'Sym'… so how about I call you SD, short for Sym's daughter? You okay with that?'**

— _**SD… Sym's daughter… while not entirely accurate seeing that I am a **__**copy**__** of the symbiotic entity known as Sym **__**and not an offspring **__**I find this depiction fitting**__** nonetheless**__**. SD will do nicely, Felicia,**_ — the newly named SD replied calmly.

Felicia looked down at herself while replying **'Nice to meet you, SD.'** and noticed that her symbiote was meanwhile covering everything up to her torso. Upon seeing the same chaotically swirling tendrils Ranma's costume featured sprout forth from her combat suit the Black Cat couldn't help but to exclaim and awed "Wow."

**'Do you possess the same capabilities as your 'mother'?'** Felicia queried curiously, her eyes literally shining due to the things now possible to her.

— _**Seeing that I am an exact replica the answer would be yes,**_ — SD calmly replied. — _**I will now cover your head to complete the forming of what is commonly referred to as the combat suit, and much as my 'mother' asked of her host at that time I ask you not to freak out. Despite my covering your head you will still be able to breathe and perceive normally, in fact even better. Are you prepared?**_ —

Much as Ranma at that time Felicia took a deep breath, and Ranma, only standing two metres away knew what was coming, **'Yeah. Do your thing, SD,'** the platinum blonde replied determinedly.

— _**Ready or not, here I come,**_ — SD thought back, and the feeling of the symbiote flowing upwards again returned.

**'Didn't know you symbiote's had a sense of humour,'** Felicia retorted, vaguely amused.

— _**From**__** what I can discern we do not, but Ranma has exerted a lot of influence upon my 'mother' since their joining**__**. Unsurprisingly that has carried over to me, **_— SD replied vaguely as she slowly proceeded to creep up Felicia's face.

A brief gasp of surprise crossed Felicia's lips as said same-self lips were suddenly being covered by the symbiote, and much like Ranma Felicia experienced a strong feeling of suffocation when SD finally covered her head completely.

The Black Cat took a first, gasping breath, yet immediately smiled when she noticed that breathing worked as advertised. **'Thanks for the warnings, SD. That made it a lot easier. And you mean to say that your ****'mother' i****s slowly assimilating Ranma's sense of humour? Well, it could be worse,'** she thought.

— _**You are welcome, Felicia. And yes, my mother's host was and is responsible for her developing a sense of humour. If you wish so I could suppress tendencies on that score,**_ — SD offered.

**'No, no, that's fine, SD. I like humour, very much so, in fact,'** Felicia assured her symbiote, and finally returned her focus back to the outside world, staring right at Ranma's face.

A grin appeared on her masked face as she considered the next words she was about to utter, and she was as curious as the metaphorical cat to see Ranma's reaction. "Hello, Ranma," she simply said.

-.-

Unsurprised blue eyes gazed at a horrible seeming face they had gazed upon often enough as her own reflection, and the blonde inclined her head. "So you know. How much did she tell you beyond that?" she queried with a calm she didn't really feel, ignoring Sandman's mumbled comment of "Ranma? You don't hear that every day".

"Nothing beyond your name, really. Why?" Felicia queried, feeling a bit surprised at Ranma's question.

"You'd be surprised as to the answer to that, Felicia," Ranma replied seriously, a sigh escaping her lips. "My suggestion is we wrap up the business we have here, which leads to another suggestion I have to offer."

"That being?" Felicia asked, shortly followed by Flint asking "What?"

"That we ensure Reed Richards understands just how dangerous the replicator really is, irregardless that it has apparently been destroyed. Imagine what kind of havoc Bentley Wittman could have wreaked with an army of symbiotes at his disposal. I shudder just imagining that," Ranma exclaimed, her eyes glittering darkly.

Flint and Felicia exchanged significant looks as their minds arrived at the same conclusion Ranma had drawn. "Better yet, we convince Reed to outright destroy that thing along with any blueprints he might have!" the Black Cat exclaimed.

"Damn right!" agreed Sandman, his face a bit pale. "Just imagine, that stuck-up bastard Wittman was a hairsbreadth away from having his own symbiote. Damn, good that you punched him into that wall, Ranma!"

"Believe me, it was my pleasure, but that's sure as hell not all I wanted to do to him," she retorted darkly, before shaking her head to banish the violent thoughts. "Anyway, which do you wanna do first? Listen to the uncut, uncensored story of my life with all its juicy details, or return that replicator thingie to Reed Richards?" Ranma asked.

"I would be in favour of the life story, Ranma," Felicia replied after not even a moment's thought, and looked at Flint. "Dunno about you, though, Flint."

"To be honest, I'd rather go outside and mop up Morrie. Ain't never been interested in gossip, couldn't stand it, so I'll leave ya gals to it." Sandman replied, casually waving his hand in dismissal of Ranma's suggestion.

The blonde shrugged. "Fine by me, Flint. But just so you know, you're part of this team, and you did everything in your power to help me. I'd have told you my secrets as well," she said honestly, her serious gaze boring into Sandman's brown eyes.

"I 'preciate it, Ranma, but something tells me that what you're gonna reveal's mainly between you two. That's why I say till later, gals," Flint remarked and waved at them before leaving the hall.

Ranma and Felicia waved back at him and looked at each other, "Felicia," Ranma said with just a hint of humour in her voice, "could you please show me your face? What I'm... What I'm gonna tell you is gonna be hard enough without being able to see your reactions. Please?"

"Is what you're gonna tell me really that bad, Ranma?" Felicia asked softly and let her 'monster visage' fade away, the symbiote forming a collar below the neckline.

"Yeah. You may not see it 'cause I've remarkable control over my body, but inwardly I'm shaking like a leaf. I admit to being glad that Flint offered to give us privacy, don't get me wrong, I would have told him everything as well, but I'm glad he offered," Ranma said.

"So bad, eh?" Felicia mused thoughtfully, a glint appearing in her eyes. "You didn't really strike me as one of the girls my mother warned me about."

Ranma couldn't help but chuckle in spite of herself. "Your mother wouldn't have known girls like me exist," she said with a small smile. "Anyway, I'd really like to get this over and done with so you can condemn me." she added tonelessly and without a hint of humour.

"Scar?" Felicia inquired tentatively. "Why would I-"

"Because that's what everyone has always done, regardless the circumstances, regardless of anything. And no matter how much I wish it'd be different with you, experience has told me that I don't dare to hope." Ranma replied in a dead tone that was filled with complete conviction.

— _**As you can guess **__**from**__** her**__** demeanour, Ranma has been through a lot. But I assure you**_ _**that whatever she is going to te**__**ll you is the truth and nothing **__**but, regardless of how far-fetched it will sound. **__**Ranma is a very… **__**true-hearted**__** person**__**, and do not forgot, **__**I possess every single memory of **__**hers**__**, I **__**would be able to**__** tell**____**truth from lie**__ — _SD spoke up within Felicia's thoughts.

**'Thanks, SD,'** Felicia replied warmly. "Ranma, please let me decide about that, okay? All I can promise is that I'll hear you out, neutral and without bias. Besides, as my friend and saviour you have the benefit of the doubt."

Disbelief, and then hope briefly flickered in Ranma's eyes only to be ruthlessly suppressed. "Okay. Before I start, we should make sure none of Wizard's equipment is able to eavesdrop on us. Ruddy asshole's ruined enough already."

Felicia nodded, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face, "Yeah, he'll probably have riddled the hall with bugs. Hmmmm."

— _**If I may offer a suggestion, my 'daughter' and I could form a cocoon around you two that ****would be**** completely impenetrable to any kind of surveillance equipment. Our combined masses are more than sufficient, not to mention completely compatible,**_ — Sym spoke up.

"My symbiote just said-" both women started at the same time, stopped, looked at each other and giggled quietly.

"Yours too?" both asked at the same time again, which evoked a fresh bout of giggles.

"Okay, Sym," Ranma said out loud, "Do your thing."

"SD, you heard the woman," Felicia spoke up.

"SD?" Ranma mouthed, a delicate brow raised in a perfect Spock manoeuvre as a mass of red and black began to swirl around their bodies.

"'Sym's daughter'," Felicia replied with a smile, "I thought it fitting."

Ranma nodded, a small smile appearing on her face as she gazed at Felicia, "It is," she opined, and looked around at the black and red masses that had ceased their motion, having formed a cube of round about three by three metres, "I'd say they're finished," she remarked and looked down at herself, noticing that she was clothed in comfortable blue jeans and a white hoodie sweater.

"Seems so," Felicia agreed and looked down at herself, noticing that she was wearing her usual Black Cat costume. "Whenever you're ready, Ranma." she added and walked over to the wall she was currently facing, sat down and rested her back against it.

Ranma followed her example and leant against the wall opposite of Felicia and bowed her head. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat the blonde breathed deeply a few times so as to clear her mind, looked up and focussed her intense blue eyes on the other woman. "What I'm about to tell you will sound fantastic and downright unbelievable at times, but I assure you, all of it is completely true," she said solemnly, and Felicia inclined her head. "I'm quite sure Sym could testify as to the veracity of my story, as she has seen my memories. And I'm certain SD could confirm my story as well."

"SD has already said your story was to be trusted, yeah." Felicia admitted.

"Good. Well, here goes nothing." Ranma remarked wryly. "It all started round about nineteen years ago when I was born as the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome-"

"One sec, did you just say 'son'?" Felicia interrupted, both delicate brows attempting to crawl into her hairline.

"Yes, son," Ranma nodded with a shrug and a small smile, "That part's one of the really unbelievable ones, I know, but-"

"You can say that again! I mean, come on, you can't have had a gender changing operation, Scar! They can make breasts like that and may be able to remodel a male body to that degree, yeah, but I'm quite certain you're on your period right now. And they can't emulate that," Felicia finished, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"How... How do you know?" Ranma asked a bit flustered, knowing for certain that she was blushing.

Felicia was tempted to list the indicators, yet she simply said, "Woman's intuition."

"Uhh, okay," Ranma managed to utter, her effort to get a grip on herself obvious. "Returning to topic, I know you must be thinking I'm trying to fool you and 'what the heck is she playing at'," she mused with a wry smile that gave way to a serious look, "but I assure you that I'm telling the truth. I was born a boy, Ranma Saotome, and you can ask both Sym and SD for confirmation."

Felicia surveyed Ranma sceptically, but turned her focus inward nevertheless after a muttered "What the heck,". **'SD, is Ranma really telling the truth? Was she born a boy?'**

—** _Yes. In anticipation of your next question, namely how this is possible, the answer is easy yet not. Ranma travelled with her, at that time his father on a world-spanning training trip with intent to groom him into the best martial artist there ever was. This training trip included a visit to a legendary training ground in China, the valley of Jusenkyo, amongst things. _**_—_

**'****Never heard of it,'** Felicia thought back with a frown.

— _**And be glad that you have not. To return to the tale of Ranma's travels,****neither he nor his father gave the stories any credit that depicted Jusenkyo as a cursed training ground, but they were all too soon wised up to the veracity of these reports. To give you a quick summary, Ranma and his father sparred above the many pools of water and used the bamboo poles sticking out of these pools as points to launch their attacks from.**_

_— **Ranma was already very good ****back then ****and managed to bypass his father's defences easily, sending the man careening into a spring. That was when they learned about the magical curses, for out of the spring did not leap his father, but a giant panda bear.** —_

**'A... Panda,'** Felicia deadpanned, surprise overly prevalent in her mental voice. **'Are you certain having been replicated agreed with you?'**

SD scoffed. _— **It is too bad Ranma is currently locked in female form due to her ****period,**** otherwise bringing forward proof would be child's play. And yes, I am in complete control of my mental faculties.**_

_—** In a nutshell, Ranma's father hit the Spring of Drowned Panda, Ranma the Spring of Drowned Girl. This is neither fantasy nor made up. Besides, did you not encounter magic before, Felicia?** —_

**'Yeah, yeah, I did,'** the silver haired woman admitted, remembering everything she had seen during her career, **'but that Ranma was born a boy is a lot to take in.'**

— _**So you believe it, then? Good. ****Magic,**** or more precisely, a water-based magical curse is your answer, Felicia. This is why Ranma is both a boy and a girl, right down to the genetic level. Warm water boy, cold water girl, and just as much female as you are. She can exert no influence whatsoever upon when the next change is going to hit, though. The time-span during her menses is the only exception, leaving Ranma a girl for four to seven days,** —_ SD explained.

**'Ranma only has a stable gender during her period? ****Crickey,**** how's she even sane?'** Felicia mused to herself.

_— **Through floating with the current, Felicia. Trust me when I say you can believe her story beyond the shadow of a doubt. It is all true. Should she attempt to lie I would alert you, but due to my origins I do know that this is so improbable I would not even try to calculate the probabilities**, —_ SD replied.

Raising her head Felicia gazed at Ranma, who had apparently been busy forming all different kinds of weapons, and the blonde focussed her carefully neutral gaze on her teammate. "Found out what you wanted?"

"Yeah," Felicia said with a nod, a look of realisation appearing on her face. "Am I right to assume you're your own 'brother'?"

"Yeah," Ranma admitted sheepishly, bowing her head a bit. "Seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, I had to make up a believable story as to why I had bones to pick with Spidey after that pail full of hot water changed me to a guy in the middle of the fight," she added upon seeing Felicia's curious look.

The silver-haired woman snickered quietly. "Yeah, I can see how that would have been counterproductive," she muttered, causing Ranma to smile in spite of herself. "So what are you? Boy or girl? And how did you stay sane? How long have you had this affliction?" the Black Cat asked, firing off question after question.

"Y-You don't think I'm some kinda perverted sex-changing freak or something?" Ranma asked, not able to hide her surprise.

That question took Felicia by surprise. "Why would I? You obviously had no control over receiving this affliction, and SD told me you can't affect your changes. And why would you think so? Just 'cause you change genders with hot and cold water? That doesn't make you a freak. And perverted? Nope, don't think so. There's nothing perverted in being a starlight." she replied calmly and smiled, her comment causing a giant smile to bloom on Ranma's face that was suppressed a few moments later.

_—** I think you just made a friend for life, Felicia. You must know, in Ranma's past life there was this one girl she, or rather he, was betrothed to, and due to a wide range of circumstances this girl often accused Ranma of being a pervert. Not the least of which due to the curse. I can assure you however that these accusations were without fail completely unfounded. Ranma was and is living downright celibate and has yet to engage in a physical relationship. Or to be more precise, a relationship of any kind,** —_ SD spoke up.

**'I... see. Thanks for clearing that up, SD.'** Felicia replied, now more curious than ever what kind of life her friend had led. "So what about my questions, Scar? You up to answer them?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure," Ranma exclaimed, scratching the back of her head, the gesture making Felicia smile. A look of concentration appeared on the blonde's face, and she gazed at her friend seriously. "So, what was the first question again?"

_— **I swear humans go to pieces for the most illogical of reasons. First question: are you male or female?** —_ Sym supplied.

"Oh, yeah, boy or girl," Ranma mused to herself, staring off into space for a few seconds before looking at Felicia again. "You know, a year ago I'd have yelled at the top of my lungs that I was a boy and nothing but, regardless of physical evidence. But-"

"But?" Felicia urged, making an encouraging gesture with her hand.

"A lot has happened since then," Ranma replied with a far away look. "But to cut a long story short, I'm a girl when I'm a girl and a boy when I'm a boy. The wiring up here," she pointed her right index finger to her temple, "changes, my perceptions shift, and, not to forget 'bout the physical changes."

"I can imagine how that'd be hard to ignore. Unless you have a really, really small pony," Felicia mused with a slight blush.

_— **I can assure you that Ranma's male form is quite above average, Felicia, **—_ SD spoke up, causing the silver-haired woman to smile inwardly; yet another reason to get to know her friend and team mate better.

"Anyway," Ranma continued, determinedly suppressing her blush, "I only ever accepted being both as fact when I was forced to deal with it. Isn't it ironic? In freedom I did my level best to ignore the curse, only ever used my assets to get free treats and such, but in captivity I was forced to come to terms with it."

"How did you come to terms with it?" Felicia asked.

"The hard way. At first I fought being a girl 24/7 tooth and nail. It wasn't what I was born as, it was unnatural, a curse. Then I started, if you know what I mean, and it got even worse. After days on end spent bitching and moaning—not that anyone cared, far from it, they revelled in my misery—I realised I had two choices: break down, hate my female form and blame everything bad that had happened to me on the curse, effectively playing those that had abandoned and left me to rot right into the hands by eventually committing suicide, or come to terms with my dual genderdness and accept it.

"Seeing that my motto is that I don't lose I chose the latter. Heh, I never even considered dealing with and accepting the curse when I was still free, not even when even the last possible cure went up in smoke, but in captivity I had virtually no choice. Not if I wanted to stay alive and sane. Life's weird like that, eh?" Ranma mused with a wry smile.

Felicia absently nodded as she absorbed what Ranma had said, yet she unsurprisingly stumbled over the captivity part. "One sec... I'm certain you said captivity... And what did you mean by 'still free'? Has someone captured you before?" she queried.

A deep sigh escaped Ranma, and she steeled herself to ask the question that's answer she feared the most. "Do you believe I could murder innocents in cold blood?" she queried seemingly out of the blue, her hard, blue eyes burning into Felicia, giving her no chance to look away.

"No," replied Felicia immediately, the silvery-blonde woman not taking her eyes away from Ranma's powerful gaze. "Even though I've only known you for a bit more than a day, no."

"And why not?" Ranma implored curiously, her gaze softening as relief and gratitude washed over her.

"Because you'd only ever kill those who deserve it, human beings who have chosen the 'path of darkness', to use a clichéd phrase. Why?" Felicia queried, wondering just what Ranma was getting at.

Ranma suppressed the smile that wanted to appear on her face and concentrated on what she was about to do. "Because you'll see who I once was, and you'll also learn just what a symbiote is capable of. Please, whatever you'll see in the next minute or two, please let me finish, regardless of how much pain I seem to be in. It is necessary," she emphasised with a hint of steel in her voice.

"Oookay. I have no idea what you're getting at, but I trust you. I promise I'll let you do your thing," Felicia agreed, yet her worry was clearly visible in her expressive green eyes.

"Thanks," Ranma replied with a small smile, the blonde harbouring the hope that Felicia would continue to trust her after her transformation.

**'I know you hate it when I ask it of you, but just do it, Sym. You know as well as me that it****'s necessary****,'** Ranma thought with her teeth clenched, well aware of just how much pain she'd experience in a few moments.

_— **Affirmative, **—_ Sym replied without inflection to her mental voice, and then Ranma's world tilted sideway for the second time that day.

-.-

Felicia watched in worry as Ranma clenched her teeth so hard it was a small wonder no sparks were sent flying, and when the blonde dropped to one knee and gasped in apparent pain she was about ready to jump in, yet she remembered her friend's urgent warning and let her carry on against her better judgement, her arms dropping back to her sides. Felicia's worry turned into surprise and then wonder, though, when the first changes in Ranma's appearance became apparent.

"Red hair? What the hell?" Felicia silently mused, asking herself what was going.

_— **My 'mother' is changing Ranma's genetic structure back to its original state, back to the way she was born. Or rather, the way Ranma would have been had she been born a girl,** —_ SD explained.

**'Changing her genes? That's possible?'** Felicia asked back while keeping her eyes trained on the changing woman in front of her.

_— **Yes. It was made possible in Ranma's case due to the fact that her mother had Caucasian ancestors. I will and cannot say more, though, as it is Ranma's story to tell, Felicia,** —_ SD remarked.

**'I understand, SD. ****But that****…**** That's just seriously wicked,'** she thought back, only to start in surprise when Ranma's facial features began to change as well. "Damn, Scar's part Asian!" she exclaimed in surprise. "I'd never have guessed!"

"And that's the purpose behind it," Ranma spoke up a little later in a slightly cracking voice that betrayed she was still in some amount of pain as she righted herself up slowly. "No one should know, and seeing that it's excruciatingly painful to change I'm not really keen on changing to my original form."

"Then why did you just go through that pain after all we, but especially you, have been through?" Felicia inquired, her tone of voice suggesting Ranma had pulled a stupid and superfluous stunt.

"So that you know the whole truth," Ranma retorted ominously, and plopped down onto the ground clearly exhausted, coming to sit in a cross-legged position.

"Which truth?" Felicia demanded after having followed Ranma's example, looking at the redhead across from her in thinly veiled curiosity.

"You will remember I asked if you thought me capable of killing innocents. Now, do you think I'd have it in me to kill five teens in cold blood, just like that?" Ranma queried, keeping her fingers crossed in hopes Felicia would say no.

The older woman took a good, long look at Ranma during which she scrutinised the gender-changing, symbiote-wearing woman across from her, finally shaking her head. "I think I've got a good enough insight into your value system after the last intense thirty-six hours, and I know for a fact that you'll kill those that deserve it without batting a lash.

"Five teens do not fall into that category. So the answer is no," Felicia retorted with a smile, only to widen her eyes moments later, her smile faltering. "One sec... Five teens... brutally killed... McDonalds... Oh my god! Ronin Ranko?" she queried incredulously, her eyes almost impossibly wide.

Ranma laughed humourlessly. "That's what they called me, yeah."

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Felicia asked intrigued.

"I got better," Ranma remarked dryly, eliciting a snort from Felicia. "Okay, you probably want the whole story, here goes. It all began with an invitation..."

-.-

Twenty minutes later Ranma had finished relaying her story, having given the Black Cat a very condensed version consisting of the most important highlights of what had led to her situation, and Felicia, long time super heroine and for the time being hero for hire, a woman, who had indubitably seen a lot in her life, was outraged.

While not an alien state of mind to her, her anger was of a magnitude she seldom experienced due to her disposition as a positive person, and it left her barely able to form words. "They... They really did that to you? Abandoned you, left you to rot in one of the worst prisons of a foreign country thousands of miles away from home? Didn't even lift a finger to try and prove your innocence?" she asked through clenched teeth, her face a mask of fury.

"You... You really believe me?" Ranma asked incredulously, hope and disbelief warring within her.

"Why the hell ever not? I've seen what kind of person you are, and if you're not an actor so good that you can fool a symbiote then you're a good person. I can easily believe you were framed, especially what with your symbiote and mine vouching for you." Felicia remarked in the breast-note of seriousness.

"I... I... thank you. I dunno what to say." Ranma replied in a whisper, deeply moved, and for the first time in long really at a loss for words.

"You're welcome, Scar," Felicia said with an empathic smile, then her face got a curious and serious look, "You got any idea who it was that framed you?"

Ranma shook off the wonder she was still feeling at having someone believe her, her look of wonder slowly giving way to a serious and contemplative expression. "It's gotta be someone from my former rivals slash suitors. Suspects are the Kunos, Mousse and Ryoga," she rattled off thoughtfully. "Although I can practically rule out Ryoga and Mousse. Lost boy had practically given up on Akane, and framing me ain't duck boy's style."

Felicia, who had received a crash-course in Nerimatitis, nodded slowly. "I still can't believe the crazies you dealt with on a daily basis, but considering beings like Galactus, the Beyonder and the fruck knows who exist cursed rivals and insane suitors ain't too far-fetched," she mused with a wry smile.

"Not the most accurate of summaries, but yeah, that's about right," Ranma allowed with a wry smile of her own. "Before I return to Nerima I want to prove my innocence, though, and I can only do that here, where everything began," she added determinedly, her blue orbs glittering like two chips of ice.

"So you want to go back some time?" Felicia wanted to know, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

"Not to live there or anything. Japan, especially Nerima has completely lost its appeal to me," Ranma answered bluntly, keeping her gaze trained on the other woman, "I'll just go back to enact my revenge, and that'll only happen once I know all pieces are in place. I am not in a hurry, and the longer they think I'm food for the fishes the better."

"Good to hear that. Life would be boring without you," Felicia remarked in a teasing tone, grinning at the redhead.

"I'm sure it would," Ranma retorted wryly. "How about we return that replicator thingie or what's left of it anyway to Reed Richards? I really need some proper food and R and R after all of today's stress."

"Sounds good to me, Ranma. I gotta come to terms with what happened to me too. I mean it ain't every day one of your dreams comes true," Felicia mused with a satisfied grin.

"Oh yeah," Ranma nodded, snapping her fingers, "now you can websling and all of that under your own power. Heh, you'll soon find out just how much fun that is. I couldn't really do without the powers Sym offers, not to mention Sym herself."

_— **Now is it not nice to be appreciated?** —_ Sym remarked sarcastically.

"And you'll also have to get used to cheeky know-it-all symbiote's who always butt in regardless if it's wanted or needed," Ranma added, blowing Sym a mental raspberry.

Felicia chuckled, "I guess. Ready to wrap things up?" she asked, giving SD the mental request to let her part of the cube dissolve.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded, quickly following Felicia's example, the two symbiote hosts walking in lockstep towards the workbench holding the imploded replicator. "How about we dress up identically and you carry that replicator thing on your back? Let Sable sweat a bit in trying to find out who's who." she suggested with a grin that'd have made a shark envious.

Felicia laughed, "Sure, I'm game. I gotta admit, I'm really itching to try out these new powers. Webslinging and being really, really strong is no longer a dream, that's almost too good to be true. But how do they say? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

_— **You will find it ironically fitting that the translation of the name Ranma means 'wild horse', Felicia,** —_ SD supplied, definite amusement reverberating in her mental voice.

**'Oh? So Ranma****'****s not a little pony but a wild horse?****'** Felicia mused with a good deal of amusement.

_— **That**** you will have to find out for yourself, Felicia, **—_ SD replied neutrally, following the original plan of her mother'.

**'Maybe I will, SD, maybe I will,****'** Felicia retorted thoughtfully.

_— **I am most certain you will, my host,** —_ SD mused in the private partition of her mind.

"Yeah," Ranma had said in reply to Felicia's comment at the same time, scratching the back of her head with a sheepish smile the Black Cat knew how to interpret thanks to SD.

"Okay, let's wrap it up then, girlfriend," Felicia said with a cheeky grin, causing Ranma to raise both brows, then shrug. "Methinks Flint has the whole road lined with sandcastles by now out of sheer boredom."

"Oops," Ranma exclaimed after taking a look at her watch, "Time really flies by, eh?"

"Yeah. Guess Flint will call us a bunch of hens for taking over half an hour," Felicia mused with a shrug.

"I hope for his sake that he's cleverer than that," Ranma drawled, cracking her knuckles. "Nobody calls me a hen and lives."

Felicia, knowing that Ranma meant every word and now wise to her friends' background, smiled. "I think he learned his lesson when he tried to tease us prior to this mission, Ranma," she commented, easily hefting the heavy replicator complete with casing, "How do I do this? Just place it on my back or what?"

"Here, let me help you," Ranma replied, taking the machine from Felicia. "I'll prop it onto your back where it'll adhere all by itself, but I'll use my webbing as well, just to be on the safe side. Okay?"

"Okay. Go right ahead," Felicia agreed.

That Ranma did, and in little under a minute the bulky apparatus had been strapped onto Felicia's back, who was pleasantly surprised that the weight of the heavy machine didn't tax her in the least. The duo then picked up Sandman, and after communicating that they'd meet at the Symkarian embassy both symbiote hosts took to the skyline. A meeting that promised to be very interesting was awaiting...

**to**** be continued**...

Thank you for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

, masaki yang yi1, MadHat886, Gefallenen Engel, Tasuxeda, Jerry Unipeg, KaiserPhoenix, Choas Babe, oblivionknight7, Maric, Killer7, Dumbledork, NeverTooOld, zaltran, I am the Bane of my Sword, sippio, Howard Russell, K-Dog the Fire Beast, Bobboky, Getzeye Dragon1, ranger5, Jago Li Son Shiranui, Regress35, James Axelrad, Tai Khan, Ranchee, Finbar, Marco A. Salazar M., firelordeg, Darkforce222, Eric13, Lord-Scruffy, GrizzlyBiscuit, dragonwings7373, Syl, ranko lina Inverse, ss4-link, Abudharma, Wonderbee31, New lord of darkness, slaaneshgod, Edengrave, Rubel, Mesterio, Zero-Vision, borg rabbit, (), Hiryo, Innortal, Dracomancer1, Dragon Man 180, Metroidvania, Viking Girl, Jet Black Jr., Screaming Dean, Aocasio10, vanguard2000, Chris, mishap, Asgeras, Redzorin, deathtraps, Chinangel, Lord Oberon, Peter Kim, GIMME MORE

**Last but not least, thanks to my prereader ****JohnnyG**** for ****the great work he rendered time and again. You'll be missed, my friend.**

Some – or rather several – quick notes:

– Felicia getting a symbiote: I know this might – and most likely will – cause some raised brows, and I admit to being a bit… uneasy as to your reactions, but this is the course of action John and I agreed upon after lengthy discussions. Initially he had the same reservations some of you will likely have, that giving Felicia a symbiote of her own is just too convenient, that the contrast of her being so different to Ranma without having a symbiote would have been more interesting.

But my counter-arguments convinced him, those being listed below:

▪ Marvel has used the same course of action as I in the past several times and will be doing it again in a future story arc called "Venom Bomb", just look it up at wiki (search term 'symbiote (comics)').

▪ One more symbiote-enhanced human doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, especially considering Venom's other children. Also, this will be the only instance an incident like this happens.

▪ Aside from giving Ranma and Felicia even more common ground, as well as that Felicia now knows all pertinent details of Ranma's life (keyword: no relationship built on lies), it allows me to move their relationship forward at a much quicker pace. Then there's that she'll be able to defend herself much more effectively against the enemies Ranma's inevitably gonna make, The Wizard aside. And not to forget about her own enemies. Who can guess that these guys 'n' girls will be in for a surprise or two? Grin

▪ Don't even think for a second that our Cat getting SD means no murderous training to be endured. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Let's recap: a symbiote enhances existing attributes such as speed, strength, stamina and so on. We also know that the enhancing effects can be 'turned off', so to speak. You think Ranma's gonna be content with the level Felicia's currently at? Hell no! There lies loads of hard, hard work ahead...

To sum it up: yeah, I cheated and will be able to develop the relationship between Ranma and Felicia much more quickly – but still not too quickly, rest assured – than otherwise. So? It's what John and I consented on before he left the community, and I'll do my damnest to carry out what we came up with.

– the implications Felicia getting a symbiote will have, especially where Ranma is concerned, will become clear in the next chapters. As already foreshadowed in this chapter, though, Felicia will add some creative ideas on how to conduct – fitting and calmly executed – revenge on Ranma's 'family'. That, and she has contacts, peeps.

– What happened in Nerima? This question will be answered in Chapter 12, as I have finally, after long deliberations, decided upon a course of action how I want to tell this particular part of the story.

– Civil War: as much as it can be controversially discussed and as much as I think the idea was ill-conceived, this is an event with so far-reaching consequences that I can hardly afford not to have it happen.

– for those interested, **more of my comments can be found at my group**. Yeah, your eyes are not deceiving you, the Q&A section is back, and here to stay.


	11. Aftermath

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Aftermath**

New York's skyline was shrouded in the blanketing darkness the night provided, yet the many bars, shops, dwellings and many other buildings of all kinds offered a duo of crime fighters more than enough light as they swung through the night, side by side.

Each of them were travelling via the use of webbing fired from nozzles embedded in their symbiote-covered backs of their hands, and were it not for their desire to remain as undetected as possible one of them would have yelled their excitement and joy to the heavens.

The said person was Felicia Hardy, better known under her alias of the Black Cat, and due to a freak occurrence she had been blessed with a symbiote that granted her upgraded versions of Spider-Man's powers.

Having worked closely with the spider-powered man in the past possessing powers similar to Peter Parker had always been a dream of her, and now, due to the involuntary help of her friend and partner Ranma, this dream had become reality. It was almost too good to be true.

Felicia knew she'd have to sit down in a quiet moment to fully comprehend just what had happened to her and Ranma today, but it hadn't really hit her yet. The whole affair had been almost too surreal, was still too surreal, and she knew that she'd have to come to terms with the consequences that her gaining a symbiote brought about, like sharing a body with an alien that was a symbiotic creature, but that she would do later.

That this alien symbiote also happened to be an exact copy of the one Ranma was wearing, and brought with it all the knowledge the other crime fighter possessed, especially in regards of martial arts, had not fully trickled into her mind just yet either, just like many other things.

The abstract knowledge that Ranma was both male and female and that she was the Japanese citizen—or make that ex-Japanese citizen—who had been convicted for fivefold murder as the Ronin Ranko had been hard to chew in and on itself, and for the time being Felicia had put anything else off her mind for later review. For now she just revelled in her new super powers as she swung side by side with Ranma.

-.-

A duo of crime-fighters in a very good mood descended from New York's skyline and landed nimble-footed in front of the same-self guard they had encountered hours ago, this fact prompting Felicia and Ranma to look at each other.

An amused glance was exchanged between the symbiote hosts as the man sputtered in confusion at seeing the two identical women, and their exhilaration grew. Weirding the man out—which seemed to work despite one of them carrying the replicator, suggesting nothing good for the man's mental health—was just payback for the way he had undressed them with his eyes a few hours ago.

"You think we broke him?" Ranma queried fake-curiously, tilting her head slightly as she surveyed the wide-eyed man in front of them.

"It sure seems so," Felicia mused in a voice that was a perfect replica of Ranma's.

The reaction this evoked on the man's part, namely the widening of his eyes and incoherent stuttering, caused even greater merriment, "Good man, if you'd be so kind to let us pass?" Felicia suggested, once more using Ranma's voice.

"There... There's two of you!" the confused man finally managed to utter, looking for all intents and purposes like he'd faint from shock any second.

Ranma and Felicia exchanged another look, "And?" both queried at the same time and in perfect stereo.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that it seems I forgot to take my pills, I think. Must be the explanation why I'm seeing and hearing double," the man mumbled, waving them through absently, "You may pass, lady."

Quiet chuckling emanated from both combat suit clad women as they exchanged yet another amused look, then, without another word or looking back they strutted onto the premises.

-.-

It was almost exactly three hours after Ranma had knocked on Silver Sable's office door last, and it was with a look of anticipation that the martial artist raised her fist and knocked anew. The round about twenty minutes their wild swing had taken should have given Sandman enough time to have made his return to base, that Ranma and Felicia had agreed upon.

Upon Sable's call to enter Ranma pushed the door open, and two identically dressed symbiote hosts strolled into the Symkarian mercenary's office. The redhead allowed Felicia to enter first, and the Black Cat reached behind her back, easily grasping the replicator which she deposited on the ground with an audible thunking sound.

A quick scan of the room revealed that Flint Marko was indeed already there, and the brief flicker that appeared in his eyes as he looked at them conveyed his amusement.

Not missing a beat Felicia and Ranma looked at each other and nodded at Flint and then Sable in perfect synchronisation, set themselves in motion with equal fluid grace and claimed the seats to Sandman's right, both women crossing their legs in perfect sync.

Sable's reaction was as Ranma and Felicia had expected. The platinum blonde woman's eyes widened comically and she just managed to keep her jaw from falling off its hinges by a narrow margin, and that she managed to paste a neutral look on her face was testament to her mental discipline, "Is there a reason there are two of you, Scarlet Widow? I am quite certain I am not seeing double, my last total blitzing was quite a while back."

"Yes, there is. And we can assure you, you're not seeing double," Felicia and Ranma answered in stereo and with identical voices, just as they had rehearsed beforehand.

"Ookay. That's just seriously freaky," Sandman spoke up to play his part, looking from one symbiote host to the other and back.

"I'm inclined to agree, Mr. Marko," Sable mused, steepling her fingers as she leant back in her office chair, "So what did the world do to deserve a clone of you, Scarlet Widow? And where's Miss Hardy?"

Ranma and Felicia looked at each other in visible bemusement, "It seems our little charade is working," Felicia mused, though no one aside from Ranma and her had a way of knowing that it had been her that had spoken.

"Didcha have any doubts?" Ranma queried in a fake-bored tone, well noting that Silver Sable was getting impatient.

"Not really, but I think our boss is a hairsbreadth away from leaping from her seat, and methinks she'll be inclined to grab one of us and demand an explanation," Felicia commented with an audible grin to her voice, "And so that that doesn't happen I'm going to take mercy on her, Scar." she added, and let her facemask slowly fade away, finally revealing her face.

Silver Sable let herself slump back in her chair and steepled her fingers anew, "How in the world did _that_happen?"

-.-

Reciting the story of how Felicia had come to be a symbiote host had taken no more than ten minutes, that albeit only due to the fact that both symbiote hosts had asked Sable to hold back her questions until after their report.

Now that the said report had been given it was needless to say that Silver Sable was as keen as mustard to field a particular question that was literally lying on the tip of her tongue, "So you possess the same abilities as Scarlet Widow here, in essence. Mind undergoing a few tests in the training hall to gauge your new abilities?" she asked, her eyes having a speculative gleam to them.

"Not at all," Felicia replied, her tone an attempt to keep her voice level, yet she inwardly knew that her excitement had to have shown through; she was as keen as mustard to test out these new powers as well, for aside from webslinging and all kinds of artistic manoeuvres high above the streets of the Big Apple she hadn't really done much of anything yet.

"If you're planning on having us fight against each other, you can lay that idea to rest," Ranma spoke up calmly, drawing the others' attention, "While it's true that Felicia does possess the enhanced strength, speed, stamina and so on the symbiote provides, she doesn't possess the enhanced level of strength and the inherent abilities I naturally possess. I'd have an unfair advantage that'd be impossible to overcome."

"Hmm, is that so," Sable almost mused to herself, her tone pondering.

"After seeing what she did to Morrie, boss, I'd say that's a definite yes. I had to deliver the idiot to the next best police station in a plastic chest," Flint Marko piped up.

"Aww, Scar," Felicia whined, her face sporting a pout, "and here I was so looking forward to show you what I have on the ball. No fair!"

"I know, and you'll get your chance, promise. It's just that I'm a lot stronger than you, can throw blades of energy that cut through most o' anything, can become invisible at will, have more stamina, am more durable, and the list goes on. But if you wanna I'll put you through the training that'll allow you to catch up to me," Ranma soothed, having seen that her listing Felicia's shortcomings had not been appreciated.

"Promise?" Felicia asked suspiciously, hope creeping into her voice; Ranma's offer was better than she'd ever have dreamed of, and, all things considered almost too good to be true.

"Cross my heart, kittie," Ranma replied solemnly, "You're my friend, a damn good friend at that, and I want thatcha be able to defend yourself even without SD. At least long enough so that help can arrive."

"Ugh, I think my teeth are gonna rot," Flint mumbled quietly, "All that sugary sweetness… blech."

"Doncha think I hadn't heard that, Flint. Methinks I'm gonna do something very special to you in our next joint training session," Ranma mused in a sugary sweet voice, a mischievous, no, downright evil glint shining in her eyes as she fixated a now sweating Sandman.

Silver Sable snorted in amusement, "Before you start World War Three, may I suggest we adjourn to training room two? I'd like to have a comprehensive gauge of Felicia's abilities as quickly as possible. It goes without saying that if what I suspect is true, missions of a more… taxing calibre might be open to you."

"Taxing… as in better paid?" Ranma queried curiously.

"That is within the bounds of possibility, yet depends on the outcome of the test," Sable answered diplomatically.

"Good," Ranma and Felicia replied in unison. "Shall we?" the Black Cat asked, giving the Symkarian mercenary a cheeky grin.

"By all means," Silver Sable replied, and the Symkarian mercenary got out of her chair with all the grace and fluidity of a jungle cat, "I admit to being as curious as you, Miss Hardy."

-.-

Half an hour later the quartet was still in the process of finding out the extent of Felicia's symbiote granted powers. Standing in a semi-circle around the former cat burglar Ranma, Sable and Sandman watched as Felicia underwent the last test in a series of tests, that being her ability to form weapons.

Ranma watched in silence how the other woman circled through several different weapons ranging from swords to axes to hammers and many more, and the redhead felt inwardly glad that these powers had been given to someone who could and would wield them responsibly.

As lame as it sounded, it rang true that great responsibility came with great power. It was something she had been wised up to as soon as her own strength, speed, stamina and other physical attributes had slowly but surely grown until they had reached super-human level, and the aforementioned motto had been her chosen code of practice as well whenever she had dealt with other high-powered martial artists like Herb, and to a lesser degree, Shampoo and Ryoga.

Felicia seemed to be guided by the same moral concepts, which might just be part of the reason why it had clicked so easily between them. There was so much between them that seemed to draw them to the other, it was just as if the chemistry between them was consentaneous.

The redhead involuntarily smiled as she remembered how good it had felt to lean back into Felicia's warm, soft body; it had almost been enough to block out the pain, and to feel Felicia's soft fingers caress her own had sent shivers down her spine despite the mind-numbing agony that had raged through her being.

And then there was the fact that Felicia could now relate to her even better, now that she had, by a strange twist of fate, been blessed with her own symbiote. That her partner had reacted to her story as she had, open-minded, caring and even outraged on her behalf had been more than she could have hoped for in her keenest dreams. As excruciating as having Sym literally being sheared of her had been, she was very glad for the other woman that one of her biggest dreams had come true, glad that all the agony she had gone through had bestowed a symbiote upon 'kittie', her partner, friend, and if future developments between them allowed, even more.

Ranma shook herself out of her introspections and resumed to watch Felicia, and the symbiote host was not surprised to find that the rest of the tests confirmed what Sym and she had assumed. Like the original 'template' Spider-Man the symbiote enhanced Felicia possessed the same range of spider-powers as the arachnid hero, yet a much greater strength that enabled her to lift round about fifty tonnes without breaking a sweat and a speed that was probably greater than the hero's.

The new and improved Black Cat possessed the same weapons-forming capabilities as Ranma, and according to Sym, Felicia now had Ranma's quick healing and near prodigal learning curve at her disposal as well. Ranma's martial arts knowledge was there as well, yet due to the fact that Felicia's body was not as well trained as Ranma's she would remain unable to use the better part of the Anything Goes style for the foreseeable future.

Taking into account the super powers Felicia had just gained it was unsurprising that she did not really care about this being the case, yet Ranma planned to take full advantage of the fact that SD had her knowledge of the Anything Goes style stored in her genetic memory.

The redhead grinned in anticipation and mentally rubbed her hands, **'Oh yes, considering what I had confirmed just now I'll take Felicia firmly in hand.'** she thought to herself.

— _**I am certain you will, Ranma, I am certain you will,**_ — Sym piped up in a teasing voice that conveyed her intent easily.

**'Oh shuddit, Sym. Everything will happen at its own pace. Whatever will be will be and all that, but now belt up.'** Ranma shot back.

— _**For now,**_ — Sym acquiesced, — _**But I will most certainly not miss out on future opportunities to tease you, Ranma.**_ — she added and fell silent.

Ranma snorted inelegantly and muttered about ruddy interfering symbiotes, yet a small smile stole itself on her face nevertheless; Sym meant well, but she could go a bit overboard with her teasing comments. All that aside, she had meant what she had said: if a relationship with Felicia was possible she would carefully gauge the chances for a successful, open-minded relationship based on trust, respect and love and come to a decision if she was willing to trust again.

A frown entered her masked face as her thoughts strayed to the unknown perpetrator of her pain, but Ranma clamped down on the rising feelings of hate and anger before they had a chance to take root. Now was not the time to lose herself in dark emotions, now was a time to feel happy for her friend.

Her face settled into a neutral expression as her emotions returned to a balanced state, and Ranma turned her head to look at Sable, who was standing to her left, "I'd say a pay-raise is in order, Sable," she mused playfully, "Kittie's got almost the same range of abilities as li'l ole me."

Sable swivelled her head to look at Ranma for the briefest of moments before returning her attention to Felicia, who was just lifting a fifty tonne metal cube like it was nothing, the silver haired mercenary inclining her head, "That she has, and a pay-raise would indeed be in order, provided you complete more missions successfully first. Then there's the fact that we have to ensure a repeat of what happened on the last mission does not happen again. Never mind that the replicator was destroyed, our mission objectives clearly allowed for this possibility, no, I'm inferring to your now mutual weakness to sonics. Suggestions on how to negate this weakness?"

"I don't want to run off half-cocked, especially without having proof, but Sym told me that her resistance to sonics was greatly upped due to our massive exposure to the Wizard's apparatus," Ranma replied.

"Hmm, it might just be that we can open up an opportunity to combine business with pleasure and have Reed Richards take a few tests. I'm certain he wouldn't even charge us, seeing as it would be 'intriguing, scientifically fascinating' and whatnot." Sable suggested.

Ranma pondered this for a few moments before nodding, "Agreed. I'd like to know how much sonics we can take before becoming ineffective as well. I don't care for a repeat of today," she concluded darkly.

"That I can understand easily, Ranma," Flint piped up from her right, speaking up for the first time in minutes.

The redhead would have slapped her face and groaned in annoyance at Flint's slip up, yet she knew he hadn't done it wilfully. Schooling her features Ranma watched a calculating expression appear on Sable's face as she mulled this new information over, "So your real name's Ranma, eh?" she mused, her lips quirking into a small smile as Flint's groan reached her ears.

"Sorry, Ranma," the man of sand apologised, "I didn't think-"

Ranma turned her head to look at him and waved him off, "'S okay, Flint, I'm not mad at you. 'T was a honest mistake," she said with a shrug, her tone making clear that she meant every word.

Flint smiled sheepishly, "Err, thanks. I'm gonna go spar with Felicia for a bit," he muttered and toddled off.

Smiling amusedly behind her facemask the redhead swivelled her head to focus on Sable again, "Yeah, my name's Ranma, and to be honest, I don't mind the four of you knowing."

"Some say knowing someone's real name gives this person power over them," Sable said with a pondering expression as she surveyed Ranma, "You're really not concerned I might use this knowledge against you, say, to make investigations to find out who you really are?"

"Nope, not really," Ranma replied with an seemingly uncaring shrug, the redhead counting on her acquired ability to bluff to hide just how much this was really bothering her, "I live under the delusion that my secrets are mine to keep, and that my employer, you, won't butt into my business unless it's pertinent to my work. And frankly, I don't see how my real identity might be pertinent to my doing missions for you."

Sable outright laughed, "I find your attitude refreshing, Ranma. Rest assured, I know very well why heroes and villains wear masks and costumes, as I assume do you."

"We do it to conceal our real identities, to make it harder for would be assassins to target us, our friends, our loved ones." Ranma nodded, her voice getting almost unnoticeably softer as she finished the sentence.

"Indeed. And this is why I won't take steps to uncover your civilian identity, unless your behaviour makes it necessary," Sable replied solemnly.

"Understood," Ranma replied, inclining her head, "Now what about returning that replicator thingie? Isn't it too late already?" she queried, glancing at her wrist-watch.

Sable shrugged, "Why don't we ask our client?" she queried, and produced a cell-phone from her costume.

"Well, it's you bundling them outta bed at this late hour, not me. So go right ahead," Ranma commented with a shrug.

Sable surveyed her with a half-lidded stare, "I thank you for your apparent and oh so honest concern, Ranma," she said sarcastically, eliciting a snort of amusement from the redhead, "But I assure you it is completely unnecessary. Genius types like Dr. Richards are known to tend to their important little experiments until late into the night," she concluded, dialling a number.

"If you say so," Ranma replied with an uncaring shrug.

Sable just waved her off, "Hello, Dr. Richards, this is Silver Sable speaking. Yes, my team retrieved the replicator, but they encountered a lot more resistance than anticipated.

"Oh, nothing too serious," she continued after Dr. Richards apparent question pertaining to the nature of said resistance, Sable's words prompting Ranma to snort and mutter "Not serious my ass,", which Sable answered with a shrug before saying, "But much to my regret I must inform you that the replicator was damaged.

"The extent of the damage?" Sable repeated after another counter question courtesy of Reed Richards, and Ranma grimaced, "Well, according to my team it imploded after The Wizard tried to replicate something."

"You want to know if he was successful?" Sable queried, looking at Ranma as if asking her to give the go ahead, the redhead automatically nodding back, "Yes, he managed to replicate… something. What? Well, that'd best be explained by my team. Would it be okay if I sent two of my team over to your site? And would it be too much to ask for you to examine my team?

"Okay. Very good, Dr. Richards. My team will be over in a few. Good night," Sable concluded, ending the call.

"And, what did he say?" Ranma inquired casually.

"Let us walk over and join Mr. Flint and Ms. Hardy, Ranma. I don't feel like telling everything twice," the Symkarian mercenary replied and guided her steps to where Sandman and Felicia were engrossed in an intense sparring fight.

"Okay by me," Ranma returned with a nod and followed Silver Sable.

-.-

Ten minutes and an explanation later Ranma and Felicia—with the older woman once more carrying the replicator on her back—were on their way to 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, the location of the famous Four Freedoms Plaza, the home of the Fantastic Four.

The two mercenaries had chosen to travel in their combat suit forms—minus 'monster face'—to make a better impression on Reed Richards, but foremost to see if the genius scientist would put together the clues and come to the conclusion that they were symbiote hosts.

Ranma for her part was very much looking forward to the visit; she, just like Felicia and everybody else in town, knew everything about the four super heroes one could know, the redhead having done extensive research on other super heroes in the vicinity upon taking up quarters in New York City.

The building the four renowned heroes called their home had impressed Ranma right away. A tower made of concrete and glass, a hundred stories tall, with the top section built to show the numeral 'four' on each side it stood out, and in a melancholic moment Ranma had once thought of it as a 'beacon of light against the forces of dark'.

Usually Ranma didn't show much interest in anything pertaining to architecture, but she had to admit that she was immensely curious to find out if the building could deliver what it promised. The same was of course true for the team, Ranma mused with an inward chuckle.

Swinging side by side with Felicia the red-haired martial artist mused that she'd find out soon if building and team were as good as rumours led to believe.

-.-

Ranma and Felicia arrived at their destination a good five minutes later, the symbiote hosts touching down on the sidewalk in front of the headquarters of the Fantastic Four gracefully. The redhead martial artist scanned the vicinity as per usual, noting that few to none passers-by were on the way.

Nodding to herself Ranma turned her head to look at Felicia, and she smiled due to the fact that she could feel the joy and happiness still literally rolling off of her friend, "It's awe-inspiring, ain't it? To be able to rise above everyone else like that, to leave all of ones worries 'n' troubles behind, I mean. I find this feeling of freedom and peace… freeing. Exhilarating."

Felicia turned her head to look at her partner and friend, a satisfied sigh escaping her as she nodded, "That's fitting, your description, I mean. Using my grapnel line launchers as I've done in the past could never compare. It never gave me this same self feeling I experienced just now, the feeling of freedom, of power I was blessed to have experienced. Even on pain of repeating myself, it's a dream come true."

"Yep, you might have mentioned something pertaining to a 'dream come true' once, or twice, wait, let me think… ten times?" Ranma returned teasingly, chuckling good-naturedly when Felicia scratched the back of her head, "But in earnest, who could fault you? 'T was the same for me.

"Say, kittie, you up to coming with me for a coffee or something after we have finished this mission? I really don't feel like sleeping just yet, not… not after today's events," Ranma murmured, the redhead noticing with contrite that her query for a date—or something like it—almost sounded like the plea of someone who was afraid to sleep alone; she was about to add something to make it sound less pathetic, yet Felicia speaking up prevented that.

"I'd love to. But say, why don't we crash at my place, if that's okay for you? I'd really like to learn more about you," Felicia said in a warm tone.

"S-Sure. It'd be my pleasure," Ranma managed to utter, glad that her fierce blush couldn't be seen by her partner.

"Hah hah hah, ain't that cute?" a male teenager's voice piped up from a few metres behind them, "The chicks have a thing for each other! Dykes, dykes, ya chick's are dykes!"

Whirling around with fire in her eyes Ranma assumed her full monster form, long serrated war-blades forming on both arms, her 'eyes' falling on a rapidly paling raven-haired boy of round about thirteen dressed in skater garb who carried his deck slung over his right shoulder, "Care. To. Repeat. That. , Little. Boy?" she snarled in a tone that would have made demons quail in fear, it succeeding in driving away the few passers-by in the vicinity as well as reducing the boy to a quivering mess that stood rooted to the spot like the rabbit in front of the snake, his skateboard clattering to the ground from nerveless fingers.

"Aww, don't be too hard on him, sweetheart," Felicia whispered from behind, placed the replicator on the ground with a resounding thunk prior to walking up to the redhead and resting her chin on Ranma's right shoulder blade, the physical contact sending the redhead's heart-rate into overdrive, "The little guy probably doesn't know better than to insult and make fun of those with a… different persuasion. He's just an insecure little boy used to stereotypes, and there's no need to bite his head off. Not this time, please?"

"B-Bite my h-head off? T-This time?" the boy managed to ask in fear, backing away slowly as his survival instincts kicked in, allowing him to regain some motor control.

**'Gotta give him that, he didn't faint or piss himself,'** Ranma thought absently as she revelled in the prolonged physical contact.

Realising that she was supposed to say something she traced her sharp and pointy lower teeth with her right index finger, "Aww, why won'tcha let me? Wasn't I good this last week? I didn't spill blood on the carpet, didn't leave body parts in the bedroom and even ate all the... leftovers. And neither did I eat our new pet." she said in a contemplative tone, noting with glee the ever paling complexion of the boy, "So why ever not?" she asked, giving her voice a pouting note.

"Because I ask it of you with a pretty please, honey?" Felicia asked in a sugary sweet tone and pressed her body into Ranma's.

Ranma's higher brain functions would likely have short-circuited were it not for her measured use of the Soul of Ice, something that Felicia noted, **'She's using that cooling thing again. But why? We're not in a fight or anything.'**

— _**What Ranma uses is called the 'Soul of Ice' technique. It can, as has been shown, be used for combat, but also to calm oneself. I am certain you can draw your own conclusions from the available data, Felicia.**_ — SD spoke up.

**'Now that's interesting. Thanks, SD, that gives things a new spin. Hmm, Ranma's reactions when I comforted her, her behaviour in general and the way she reacted just now... Not to mention her use of this Soul of Ice... Could it be she's attracted to me? Is there really more to her playfulness around me? And why am I not bothered if that were the case?'** Felicia mused.

— _**Because of two reasons, Felicia. A) the two of you have a very high physiological compatibility. In layman's terms, it means that the chemistry between the two of you is harmonious. Before you say that you can not act on it due to the fact that the two of you are female, then there is reason B) Ranma is also a male half of the time, and I am quite certain that he is your kind of guy. But if you act on it or not is left to you. All I can say is that your streak of bad luck pertaining to your choice of a mate would end with a probability of ninety-nine point nine percent.**_ — SD elaborated.

**'Crickey. I almost forgot that Ranma's a guy as well. What does that make her? A heterosexual lesbian?'** Felicia thought with a raised brow, '**You really think we'd be a good match, SD? Does he look good? Is he like Scar personality-wise? What do you know of him?'**

— _**Male Ranma is indeed very good looking. Let me provide you with mental images of his part-Japanese birthform and his Caucasian form,**_ — SD said, and the mental image of a naked part-Asian male Ranma in all his post-changes glory appeared before her mind's eye.

Not surprisingly Felicia's eyes glassed over and a hungry look appeared on her—luckily—masked face, **'Now that's definitely not a little pony, and damn, those shoulders seem to go on forever, and the way he's built... Yum!'** she commented, licking her chops.

— _**Oops, I forgot to apply clothes to his form. My mistake,**_ — SD said ever so innocently, noting the rise in hormonal levels in Felicia with satisfaction. — _**I will ensure that the same mistake does not happen with the image of his Caucasian form.**_ —

**'Don't bother on my account, SD,'** Felicia replied a bit too quickly and innocently,** 'I've seen a naked female Ranma and a naked male Ranma now. And don't think he or she were the first I'd seen in the buff,'** she added, and tried to keep the tone of her mental voice as calm and neutral as possible.

— _**If you are certain,**_ — SD replied with a mental shrug, and showed the mental image of a naked Caucasian Ranma, his features as impressive if not even more so.

Consequently Felicia was left almost drooling, **'I didn't think it could get any better than what I had just seen, but I like this Ranma even better. Damn, he's one hunk o' meat! But what about his character? I've had my fair share of good looking guys, but they were without fail real assholes or spoken for. Needless to say, it has made me cautious. Better safe than sorry and all that.'**

— _**You have nothing to fear in that regard. Despite what happened to him, Ranma is honourable to a fault. He is what one would call a real boy scout around here, but he has been shaped by the hardships he endured. Despite his nearly twenty years of age, Ranma is wise beyond his years, mature, reliable and strong.**_

— _**The seven months he spent as a female did not break or twist him, rather the opposite. He has found his equilibrium, has accepted that he is both male and female and is able to draw strength from it. Ranma possesses a very strong sense of honour and tends to punish those that assault the weak harshly, but you have already born witness to that.**_

— _**He is a man who is a woman half the time, knowledgeable of all the hardships being females brings, tempered in steel by the experiences he made and laden with his own set of problems. In short, he is everything an open-minded woman could wish for.**_ — SD concluded.

Felicia mulled this over for a few nanoseconds, **'It might just be that I'll give it a shot, SD. Maybe we **_**would **_**be good for each other.'**

— _**As said, the final decision is up to you, but I am of the opinion that the both of you would benefit from a relationship. In case you are seriously considering to pursue a relationship with Ranma let me offer a piece of advice: remember that Ranma is Ranma, regardless of the gender. Should you win the heart of female Ranma you will have male Ranma's as well.**_

— _**It should also be of particular interest to you that your chances at a successful relationship would dramatically increase should you try to form the said relationship while Ranma is still female. I know for a fact that Ranma is very insecure where it comes to a potential mates' reaction to her female form, **_— SD replied, concluding the conversation that had taken up only a few seconds of real time.

**'I'll... keep that in mind. Not that becoming bi would be that much of a sacrifice if it got me someone like Ranma, especially if **_**he **_**is the way you described him. I'll definitely think about it. Thanks, SD.'** Felicia thought back.

— _**You are welcome, —**_ SD replied.

Felicia then directed her attention back to the raven-haired teen that had insulted them, this coinciding with the boy's high-pitched scream as his nerves finally frayed, and he bolted like a bat out of hell, disappearing into the night.

Grinning amusedly she commented, "Nicely done, Scar. You laid it on a bit thick, but thanks for defending my honour," she purred and removed her chin from Ranma's shoulder.

"'T was my pleasure. How 'bout back to bizz now?" Ranma asked and let her monster visage fade away, still embracing the Soul of Ice to keep her cool.

"Sound idea. As much fun as this li'l interruption was," she gave a wink, "I'd like to wrap things up. I got a ton of questions for you."

"Fine by me," Ranma nodded, turned and walked the few metres over to the replicator and picked it up easily. "Let's go."

-.-

An uneventful ride to the 71st floor of the Four Freedom Plaza during which Ranma opted to assume the guise of Scarlet Widow while Felicia's symbiote formed a plain black costume so as to not appear too threatening later the crime fighters strolled into the reception area, both women noticing that the building, interior and everything, was as modern as they had suspected.

The receptionist, a robot by the name of Roberta, noticed their approach and turned her head to look their way, "Good evening and welcome to the Four Freedom Plaza. I am Roberta, and you must be the guests Dr. Richards is expecting, for he gave me clearance to wave you right through as soon as he noticed your arrival."

Ranma, who was easily balancing the replicator on the palm of her left hand, looked at Felicia in surprise, "He knows that we're here already?" she mouthed.

"Thanks, Roberta," Felicia replied politely, and mouthed back, "Yeah, probably due to his technological gadgets. Likely sensors or something, maybe even something as mundane as a surveillance system."

"That makes sense," Ranma mused and casually leant against the wall, the replicator still held in her left palm.

"It does indeed," a cultured voice spoke up from a few metres to Ranma's right, and both mercenaries turned their heads to see a middle-aged man of average height wearing a white lab-coat over his famous uniform walking towards them at a leisurely pace, a friendly expression on his face that was underlined by the expression in his eyes, "But the truth is far more complicated. You see, I used a photonic phase-variator that stimulates the emissions of-"

"Huh?" Ranma interrupted, scratching the back of her head in confusion.

"Terribly sorry that my friend here cut your explanation short, but the details would likely go over our heads, Mr. Fantastic," Felicia replied apologetically, "Add to that that we're in a bit of a hurry. The mission was quite taxing on us, you see."

Dr. Richards inclined his head, "I understand. Say, what exactly became of the replicator? Silver Sable mentioned that the Wizard had managed to make it operational, which is an astounding feat in and on itself, yet it ceased to function after he managed to replicate something. What was that _something_ he replicated?"

"Ceased to function describes it well. Your tinker-toy imploded after he tried to replicate my symbiote." Ranma explained.

"Your symbiote, you say? Hmm, yes, that confirms my initial scans... seems to be related to the Venom symbiote, only more advanced, no doubt about that," Reed Richards mused after subjecting Ranma to intense visual scrutiny, his right index finger pressed to his chin in a thinking pose, "Truly intriguing."

"Tell me about it," Ranma agreed with a small smile to her voice, her demeanour becoming serious quickly however, "You have probably already heard of me, Dr. Richards, my being Scarlet Widow and all, but I assure you, I'm nothing like Venom. I live to protect the weak, and it might just be I overshoot the mark on occasion, but hey, I ain't perfect. Nobody is."

Reed Richards inclined his head, and Ranma thought she had seen belief flash in his eyes, "I admit to have taken notice of you indeed, Ms. Widow. Your defeats of Doctor Octavius and Venom were well documented in the press, yet it won't come as a surprise that new super-powered beings are without exception on approbation until they have proven themselves, and not to the press—whose credibility and accuracy are more often than not sorely lacking, I'm afraid—but to others heroes."

"What do you mean by that exactly, Dr. Richards?" Ranma asked, her head tilted to the left.

"He means that you'll have to prove to other heroes that you're not a loose canon who'd attack other heroes to attain your ends, Scar," Felicia explained, and turned to Dr. Richards, who nodded, "I can ease your worries in that regard, though."

"However applaudable it is to vouch for your teammate, I don't know you either, and even though you seem familiar you must understand that I can't take your word at face value," Reed Richards replied matter of factly.

"Be that as it is," interrupted Ranma just as Felicia wanted to open her mouth, "We're here to deliver that replicator thingie, and while we're at it, I'd like to ensure that everything's A-okay with her symbiote," Ranma elaborated, nodding her head at Felicia, "Yeah, she's got a symbiote as well, as I'm certain you know."

"Guilty," Mr. Fantastic admitted with a smile, "I knew about your nature the second you two entered the vicinity, and I also witnessed your—albeit harmless—altercation with that male teenager. Questionable but understandable."

"He had it coming," Ranma and Felicia retorted in unison after exchanging a look.

"That may be, but I'm certain you can imagine your... transformation worried me. The reasons I didn't take measures to apprehend you are that I realised you were playing a prank on the boy, and that you work for Silver Sable who usually knows what she's doing." Mr. Fantastic replied.

"Now that's really reassuring," commented Ranma sarcastically, causing Reed Richards to shrug non-comittically, "Would you mind conducting that check of her symbiote then?" she added politely.

"You worry too much, Scar," Felicia gently chided the redhead.

"Better too much than not enough. Believe me, I have experience with that," Ranma countered, thrusting her chin forward challengingly.

"Okay, okay, you may worry about me," Felicia relented, well knowing where Ranma was coming from.

Light chuckling reminded them that they were not alone, and both Ranma and Felicia were yet again glad to be blessed with facemasks, "Now that you have settled your minor dispute, how about we adjourn to my lab and I run the necessary tests to find out if both symbiotes are okay, as had already been agreed upon with your employer? I admit to being very curious myself," Mr. Fantastic admitted.

Ranma and Felicia exchanged a look, both nodding at almost the same time, "Okay," they chorused in stereo.

"If you'd follow me," Reed Richards said, holding out his right arm which he then stretched out to activate the sensor that opened the door.

"That's damn neat," Ranma commented as she, like Felicia, followed Dr. Richards.

— _**As you are likely already aware of, Mr. Fantastic can stretch any body part he so choses. Add to that that he is a genius level scientist and indisputably one of Earth's brightest, —**_ Sym commented.

**'Any body part, huh? His wife sure is lucky,'** Ranma thought back with a light blush as she followed Felicia and Dr. Richards on the heel.

— _**Ranma, Ranma, I am detecting an increasingly intriguing thought pattern here. Whatever may be the reason? —**_ Sym queried in a mock-clueless voice.

**'Stop the teasing, Sym. I attribute the 'increasingly intriguing thought patterns', as you called them, to finally growing up in body and mind. I'm and adult now, so is it surprising that I have an adults thoughts, wants and desires?' **she returned as she walked on, her body on autopilot. **'I like Felicia, and would it be so wrong if I wanted her to do... things to me, especially after the way she pressed herself into my body not five minutes ago? Excuse me for finally discovering my hormones. Besides, she now knows that I'm male as well, which means she might be interested as well. Maybe SD even told her some things about me.'**

— _**I surely would have. And seeing that my 'daughter' is an exact copy of me you can be certain she has. She might even have shown her pictures of your male form. —**_ Sym replied with a hint of amusement to her voice.

The colour momentarily drained from Ranma's face, yet a few nanoseconds later she gave a mental shrug, **'So what? Either she liked what she saw or not. I'll know for sure soon enough, and I want to know. There's no horde of competitive, destructive, territorial and whatever adjective one wants to attribute to the Nerima girls around to pester me, now I'm finally allowed to live, to express what I want without having to fear repercussions. And by every Kami, God or whatever, I'm gonna live and enjoy it, getting revenge and everything included. And woe unto those that get in my way.'** Ranma concluded, determinedly narrowing her eyes.

— _**I would have expected nothing less from you, my host, —**_ Sym replied, _**— But now return your attention back to the outside world, for we have arrived. —**_

Ranma shook her head almost imperceptibly to ease the transition and placed the replicator on the ground. Then she looked around, and a feeling of awe spread throughout her being as she surveyed the complex looking apparatuses that comprised Reed Richards lab. The redhead could not contain the low whistling that escaped her, and she absently noticed Reed Richards amused look, "Wow. Double wow. Now that's a bazillion times more impressive than what the armoured goatee had at his disposal. Way cool," Ranma commented with an admiring nod.

"Thank you. For me it's daily routine, so I often forget the effect my lab has on visitors. It's nice to be reminded that,"

"Hey Stretch," a deep bass rumbled from the door, "Finished my new weights yet?"

Reed, just as much as Felicia and Ranma, turned their heads to look at the newcomer, who turned out to be no one else but Benjamin Grimm, otherwise known as The Thing. "Almost, Ben. They're still undergoing the process of molecular hardening, but they'll be finished in an hour. You can use them safely by tomorrow. Now excuse me, I have guests," he said absently and turned back to the symbiote hosts. "Where were we? Oh yes, the scans."

"Reed, Reed, Reed," the Thing rumbled as he walked over, "as courteous as ever.

"I am Ben Grimm, but you ladies may call me Ben. Say, what brings two pretty girls to this boring lab?" the Thing asked conversationally.

Felicia and Ranma exchanged a look, "Business, Ben. We retrieved something for our client here," Ranma commented, nodding her head at Dr. Richards.

"Client?" Ben Grimm asked curiously, and would have raised a brow in incredulity—provided he had brows—due to the wide variety of meanings this could have.

"Beeen," Reed Richards complained and massaged his temples.

"I think it's time we ended this charade," Felicia exclaimed and gave SD the mental command to draw back into her body and form her usual Black Cat attire, which was slowly but surely becoming visible.

Ranma, having caught on to what Felicia had suggested, waited for her partner to finish, "We are the Black Cat and Scarlet Widow, mercenaries in the employment of Silver Sable. Our mission was to retrieve an apparatus called the replicator, something that could, as the name suggests, replicate stuff." Ranma explained to Ben.

"The Black Cat..." both Reed Richards and Ben Grimm said, and Mr. Fantastic added, "Now it makes sense."

"I'd never have guessed," the Thing mused, while Mr. Fantastic commented, "Intriguing."

"According to our client, Mr. Fantastic here, the machine was dysfunctional," Felicia said, picking up where Ranma had left off, "But the thief, the Wizard, had managed to make it operational. He lured us into a trap, managed to isolate Scar's symbiote and stuffed it into a cell secured by this sonics stuff that's so damned harmful to symbiotes.

"What we didn't know was that he also managed to scan Scar's symbiote, either before or during the fight that ensued after Scar here broke free, and only the fruck knows how, but he managed to make a copy of Sym."

"Sym?" Ben Grimm repeated.

"Likely an acronym for 'symbiote' and most probably Ms. Widows' chosen name for her symbiote," Mr. Fantastic mused.

— _**If I may offer a suggestion, Ranma, the Fantastic Four are in the know where Spiderman's civilian identity is concerned. A show of faith on your part might prove advantageous, if you catch my drift, —**_ Sym suggested.

Minutely inclining her head to show her approval Ranma let her facemask fade away, revealing her face, "I'm Ranma, Dr. Richards, it's a pleasure to meet you, and you were absolutely right. Hello to you too, Ben."

-.-

Brief surprise showed on the faces of Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, but that was nothing on Felicia's reaction, "Why the hell did you go and do that, Ranma? A secret identity is meant to be that, secret! That means one doesn't show ones face to others unless absolutely necessary, and that includes other heroes!" she exclaimed heatedly.

Ranma shrugged her shoulders and smiled disarmingly, "Thanks for worrying, 'licia, but I did it 'cause I trust the Fantastic Four to keep my secret. That, and I believe it'll make it easier to convince Dr. Richards and Ben I'm being honest. Besides, that's not how I really wanna look, Felicia, as you well know, and I do wanna change back as soon as possible." she concluded in a hard tone, eliciting an understanding nod from Felicia and suprised reactions from the other two meta-humans.

"What do you mean by that, Ranma?" Ben asked, his tone holding a distinct note of curiosity.

Ranma expelled a sigh, "This is what I originally looked like, Ben, Dr. Richards, but it's not the appearance I go by now. Which is why I want to change back to my chosen form."

"And how do you wanna do that? Are you some kinda shapeshifter like Mystique?" Ben Grimm asked.

"I don't know no Mystique, but yeah, it's some kinda shapeshifting alright," mused Ranma.

"I wonder if the symbiote's so integrated that it's able to exert influence on the genetic structure?" Dr. Richards mused out loud, a pondering expression on his face as he stood there in a classic thinking pose.

"That's your scientific answer, Ben," Ranma said with a smile and nodded towards the Thing's teammate.

"I shoulda known our resident genius would figure it out with next to no information," Ben Grimm exclaimed with a shake of his head, "So what didcha say, Reed?"

"That her symbiote is able to change her genetic structure to a certain degree. I assume that this includes physical features such as eye- and hair colour, the shape of the face as well as your height to a degree?" Reed Richards assumed.

"Right on the dot, Mr. Fantastic," Ranma nodded, "As a matter of fact, I'd like to change back to my chosen form now to feel like myself again, and you'll be able to witness what it's like."

"Regardless of what happens in the next minutes, do not interrupt her," Felicia warned, the silver-haired woman having calmed down after having reflected about Ranma's reasoning, "She told me the exact same thing, and believe me, the process is… hellacious." she concluded, Ranma nodding in silent agreement.

"I should think so," Mr. Fantastic mused, "The pain of these physical and metabolic changes ought to be enormous. And you say you manage to stay conscious during the process?"

"I didn't say it per se, but yes, I have no problems in pulling through," Ranma agreed, smiling mirthlessly.

"Imagine someone pulling out your teeth with a rusty pair of pliers and no anaesthetisation, Ben," Reed Richards clarified upon seeing his teammates' questioning look.

"Ruddy damnit," The Thing swore.

"That about covers it, yeah," Ranma agreed with a smile. "Okay now, here we go!" she exclaimed and grit her teeth, and Sym, having known beforehand what Ranma would ask of her, implemented yet another genetic change.

-.-

Round about two minutes later a fundamentally changed and strawberry blonde Ranma was standing in front of an astounded group of three, the two members of the Fantastic Four and one Black Cat's jaws hanging slightly agape.

"Damn it to hell and back, she's even prettier this way," Felicia muttered to herself, shaking her head in silent wonder.

"Gauging from your expression and from what my sensors told me you must have been in a phenomenal amount of pain," Reed Richards commented almost clinically. "I must admit I'm surprised you handled it that well."

"Damn right, Stretch. If that really hurt as much as it looked you've just gained my respect, sister," Ben Grimm commented, his facial expression conveying just how impressed he was.

"It hurt worse, Ben," Ranma replied with a slight smile, "And thanks. Having your respect means much."

"No prob, sis," The Thing waved her off, "What 'bout that piece of junk sitting on the ground, Reed? That a new invention or something?"

"Or something, Ben," Mr. Fantastic replied with a sigh, "That's what I chose to call the 'replicator'. I designed it to replicate, speak make a copy of anything it had scanned or that's in its database. Meaning-"

"If I wanted a second set of weights that thingie could've copied them for me?" Ben Grimm asked incredulous.

"In theory, yes, but my early design was still flawed by the time The Wizard managed to apprehend it," Dr. Richards admitted.

"That old goatee can't stop messing up other people's lives, can he?" The Thing asked out loud, smashing his right fist into his left palm with a resounding smack.

"No, the fucker can't," Ranma spat heatedly, and took a few calming breaths when she noticed Felicia looking at her with worry in her eyes, "To cut a long story short, he trapped us, literally sheared off my symbiote, which is one of the worst things anyone could do to Sym or me, and then he tried to make a copy of Sym for himself. Luckily his plan backfired, and Felicia here got a symbiote out of it."

"Yeah. Which is about almost the only good thing," Felicia commented, giving Ranma a side-long glance the other woman could not decipher, "Dr. Richards, this replicator has proven to be really dangerous. Wouldn't it be better to destroy it and any blueprints you have?"

"I can easily agree to that, Miss Hardy," Reed Richards replied after thinking it over for a few minutes, "The danger that Wittman might be able to reduplicate the design is marginal as it is. I used many secret technologies in the production process that Wittman can not have copied in the three days he has had the replicator."

"Good. That's one worry less," Ranma breathed, relieved, and Felicia nodded.

"And next time Stretch will lock away his precious gadgets so that idiots like Wittman ain't gonna use them against us, eh, Stretch?" rumbled Ben Grimm, clapping his teammate on the shoulder.

"Yes, Ben," Mr. Fantastic dutifully agreed, "I-"

"Reed, are you coming to bed?" a soft alto voice spoke up from the door, and naturally, everyone turned to look at the newcomer.

Clothed in a light blue dressing gown a beautiful blonde-haired woman of about 1.75 metres was standing in the door-frame, her blue eyes looking on in surprise as she noticed that her husband was not alone, "Oh, I hadn't realised we had guests."

"We were just on our way out, Mrs. Richards," Felicia spoke up, and turned to Ranma who nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, we just delivered something your husband had tasked us to retrieve, and now that we've made an appointment for tomorrow 5 p.m. for the tests we discussed we wanted to leave. Right, Dr. Richards?" Ranma asked sweetly.

Mr. Fantastic, despite his genius intellect, took a few seconds to catch on, "Yes, Ms. Widow, indeed. We-"

"While what you wanted to do for us is a nice thing to do, Miss, I know my husband well enough to know that he's up to something," the Invisible Woman replied with a knowing smile, "And that guilty look he tries to hide tells me all I need. So, which test is it that's absolutely necessary for my husband to conduct so that he can fully concentrate on his wife afterwards?"

Now it was on Ranma and Felicia to share a guilty look while Ben Grimm simply chuckled, "Genius or not, Stretch, you couldn't lie to safe your life."

Reed simply sighed, "Sorry for taking so long in the lab, Sue. I promise to make it up to you," he said so earnestly that his wife had to smile, "As for the test, you already know Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat. This," he waved his hand at Ranma, "is her partner Ranma."

"Hello, Mrs. Richards," Felicia nodded.

"A pleasure," Ranma said at the same time.

After the pleasantries had been exchanged Reed nodded his head at Ranma, "Ranma here's a symbiote host much like Eddie Brock, but with the significant difference that she doesn't seem to be out to kill heroes."

"Ranma… you're Scarlet Widow, aren't you?" Susan Richards asked, and upon Ranma's neutral inclination of her head the Invisible Woman nodded, "I've read about your methods, and while I do not completely agree with them I understand where you're coming from. It's not always easy to remain in control when faced with examples of the human race that give a damn about others."

"You can say that again, Mrs. Richards," Ranma agreed easily.

"Please call me Sue. Now that that's out of the way," she gave Ranma a smile that the redhead reciprocated, "what kind of incredibly complex and important test does my dear husband want to subject you to?"

Ranma could not help but giggle lightly; now that the tension was fading she was feeling more welcome here, and she allowed herself to relax somewhat. "He wants to check if our symbiotes weathered out the stress they were subjected to A-okay.

"Yeah, our symbiotes," she clarified upon Sue's surprised look, "Felicia's got one as well 'cause of recent events. As for the background story, here goes…"

-.-

Five minutes later Ranma had given a comprehensive recap of the events that had led to Felicia acquiring a symbiote of her own, and even though the redhead had tried to downplay just how much pain Wittman's actions had caused she had clearly been able to see the empathy in Susan Richards's blue eyes.

Ranma had met Susan's gaze during the conversation and had silently communicated that her empathy was appreciated, and after interacting with Susan Richards the redhead could easily imagine a friendship with the Invisible Woman. Sue was friendly, understanding and easily likeable, and blessedly free of arrogance or prejudice. Sym had obviously been right on the money, the Fantastic Four—at least those members she had come to know in the last ten minutes—would make good friends indeed.

The only thing to be wary of, she had noticed, was Dr. Richards in genius—read, crazy—scientist mode. Then he seemed to be little better than that fictional character from the show Tenchi Muuyu, Washu, especially if he got carried away. Luckily—and in contrast to Washu—Reed Richards had someone to keep him in check, namely his wife.

Upon her gentle but insistent prodding Dr. Richards produced a futuristic looking scanning device that could be easily fitted into a palm and gave up on his plans to stuff them into his Scanotron, another futuristic device that vaguely resembled a CT-scanner. Due to Susan's interference Ranma and Felicia had the comfort of sitting in office chairs instead of lying half-naked in an oppressive tube while Mr. Fantastic scanned them—Ranma first so as to get a data base to have comparative data—with his whirring device.

"Fascinating," Reed Richards muttered as his scan of Ranma went on, "Your symbiote has integrated itself completely into your system and is enhancing every aspect. A symbiosis so close I have not witnessed to this day, and I would love to conduct more tests and-"

"Ahem," rang out from behind them as Susan Richards cleared her throat, her tapping her foot on the floor a clear indicator for Reed that he had overshot the mark.

"Err, I'll do that another day, then," Mr. Fantastic amended hastily, and continued to scan Ranma while his wife nodded, pleased. Ben, Felicia and Ranma on the other hand were hard pressed to keep a straight face; it was quite clear who was wearing the pants in the relationship.

"And? What's the verdict?" queried Felicia once Reed looked up from his scanner.

"The copying process hasn't had a detrimental effect on the symbiote, as far as I can tell," the genius scientist replied as he looked from Felicia to Ranma.

"That's good to hear," Ranma said with audible relief, "Sym already told me the same, but it's reassuring to have it confirmed by you. Thanks, doc."

"You're welcome," Reed replied with a smile, and looked at Felicia, "Now to confirm that your symbiote is doing alright, Miss Hardy."

That said Mr. Fantastic turned his body fully to Felicia, and seconds later the scan began.

-.-

The scan of SD had brought about nothing but good news. The copying process had worked as it had been intended to and had created a symbiote that was as healthy as its 'mother'. What more, the bond between SD and Felicia was surprisingly already almost as strong as the bond between Sym and Ranma.

Felicia's and Ranma's resistance to sonics had been tested as well, and the two symbiote hosts had been relieved and downright overjoyed to find that Sym's assumptions had been correct. It seemed that the adaptivity of the Venom spawn was much greater than its parents', which had resulted in a noticeable increase in natural resistance against sonics due to the massive exposure that would at least allow for an escape to recover and strike back.

Mr. Fantastic had been intrigued by the whole affair and had asked Ranma and Felicia if they would mind stopping by for regular check ups to ensure that hosts and symbiotes were doing alright, and the crime fighting duo had readily agreed.

Aside from the many benefits being in the Fantastic Fours' good graces brought, Ranma had taken an instant liking to Ben Grimm. She was convinced to have recognised a kindred spirit in The Thing, and she was really looking forward to the promised spar with him. Clobbering time indeed.

Ranma grinned to herself as she swung side by side with Felicia and towards the Black Cat's flat. The meeting with the Fantastic Four—or at least three quarters of the team—had gone over well. Not only had one of her major worries, namely that something might be wrong with SD that might affect Felicia, been alleviated, no, it also seemed that they had made a good impression.

Her grin widened a bit as she stole a glance at Felicia, who gracefully swung through the Big Apple's night sky like she had never done anything else. All things considered the day had gone over well despite the Wizard incident, and from what had transpired between them during the capture and afterwards Ranma felt that a lot was possible between her and the platinum blonde beauty.

**'Really surprising,'** the redhead mused to herself as she kept on following Felicia's course, **'Here I was ready to live celibate for the rest of my life, but I just had to happen upon a woman that could accept me as I am. And that without even knowing my male form. Life is seriously weird sometimes.'**

Ranma kept on smiling as she continued to discreetly watch the smooth grace and elegance with which Felicia moved in that skin-tight plain black costume that so graciously emphasised her butt, her way of moving having something definitely alluring to it. The redhead's smile faded into nothingness, though, when she picked up a well-known ki-signature half a kilometre ahead of them.

**'Sym?'** queried Ranma, her intent clear.

— _**There is no mistaking him, Ranma, **__**—**_ Sym replied, and to the redhead the symbiote seemed to sigh.

"That ruddy, blasted idiot… dunderhead… stupid moron," Ranma cursed, and she knew immediately that Felicia had heard her when the Black Cat turned her head to look at her.

"Something the matter, Ranma? You cursed like a sailor,"

"Nothing much, just an old, perverted idiot who doesn't know better. You mind taking a detour so that we can pick him up? I have some bones to pick with him anyway," she said, already changing course.

"Nope. Just who is this 'pervert'?" Felicia wanted to know as she followed Ranma.

"My old Grandmaster," the redhead grumbled, "A superb martial artist matched by few and one of the few people to believe in my innocence, but he has a perverted streak a mile wide. Don't hesitate to clobber him into next week if he tries anything."

Felicia raised a brow, but nodded nevertheless; Ranma usually knew what she was talking about, "Okay. That him over there?" she asked then after she had turned her head and had noticed something salient, "The shrivelled old man clothed in black?"

Ranma needed a few seconds to recover from her surprise, and finally nodding she fired her webbing anew, "Yeah, that's him. Happosai, Grandmaster of the Anything Goes style. But I'm surprised that you can see him at all while he's moving at that speed. Must be 'cause SD's enhancing you."

"Probably. You want me to catch him?" Felicia asked a bit cockily.

Ranma shrugged, "Why not? Go ahead. But be careful-"

Felicia had already fired her webbing though and reeled the surprised Grandmaster in before Ranma could finish her sentence, and Happosai, being the martial artist that he is had already changed positions in mid-air to improve his chances in the upcoming conflict. Yet upon realising that his captor was female Happosai extended his hands and latched unerringly onto Felicia's bosom, a huge grin on his face.

"-to keep him away from your breasts," concluded Ranma dryly, but by then Felicia was already screaming indignantly for 'the gnome to let go of her' while she barely managed to fire her webbing to keep them up in the air.

"SWEE- ouch!"

"Letch, she's off limits," Ranma growled from deep within her throat before firing her own webbing, her right fist still balled from when she had hit him over the head.

"Ranma!" Happosai exclaimed happily as he looked from his captor to the woman swinging next to them, "Oh, what a wonderful surprise! And who is this pretty lady?"

"The one who will squeeze the life outta ya if ya try touching my breasts ever again," Felicia growled, and transferred Happosai to the crook of her left arm.

"You better take this threat seriously, old perv. She's got the same range of special abilities as me, she could do it easily," warned Ranma.

Happosai looked from Ranma to Felicia and back and quickly determined that neither was joking, "Okay, I'll be good. But could you let me go now if I'm not allowed to snuggle into your beautiful bosom, pretty lady? I have silky darlings to-"

"Not so fast, Happi," interrupted Ranma, "Change course and follow me, Felicia. It wouldn't do for the perv to find out where you live. We wouldn't hear the end of it. So we'll crash at my place instead."

Felicia nodded and did as Ranma had suggested, "I can see the logic in that," she commented dryly, the idea of waking up to that old pervert fondling her breasts was more than just a little unnerving.

"I knew you would," commented Ranma dryly before focussing her attention on the tiny Grandmaster, "Happi, gauging from our last talk I'm certain you know much more than you let on, and if you spill the beans you'll get another panty. Deal?"

"Two panties and two bras, one set lace, the other silk," countered Happosai from Felicia's crook of the arm with his arms crossed across his chest while the silver-haired woman watched the exchange in incredulty.

"One set, black lace. That's my last word," shot back Ranma.

"You drive a hard bargain, my dear Ranma-chan. Add one plain cotton panty and we have a deal," replied Happosai with a smile.

"Deal," nodded Ranma. "Now let's get to my flat. I'm damn thirsty, and curious as hell."

-.-

Ten minutes and one exhilarating swing through the night later the trio stood on the rooftop of Ranma's flat. The redhaired symbiote host had seen just how much attention Felicia had been paying to their surroundings and distinctive places in an obvious effort to commit the route to memory, but Ranma was not bothered by it. Felicia had offered that they could crash at her place after all, and Ranma knew that she had been serious in her offer, which meant she'd get to see where the Cat lived sooner or later as well.

"Get in already, Happi. You know the way," prompted Ranma.

The diminutive Grandmaster needn't be told twice, and almost faster than one could blink Happosai had disappeared into the guest bedroom down below via the skylight. Felicia looked at Ranma, the Black Cat silently asking for the redhead's permission, who nodded encouragingly.

Felicia jumped gracefully into the room below, following the old man's example, and Ranma quickly followed thereafter, closing the skylight after her. The redhead let her facemask fade away and Sym formed a collar below the neckline, and once her face was visible Ranma smiled at her guests and spread her arms, "Welcome to my humble abode, guests old and new. Happi, you know your way around here already, why don't you go to the kitchen, pour yourself something to drink, get something to eat or do whatever within the scope of normal human activity while I give Felicia the tour de house?"

"I'd much rather stay in the company of two so pretty ladies," Happosai declined.

Ranma's brows furrowed and her face darkened, her glare drilling into the tiny man, "Take a hint and scoot, old man," she growled.

"B-But-" Happosai began, his watery eyes round and huge.

"No buts," Ranma retorted adamantly, "Remember last time you ticked me off? That headache was nothing in comparison to the one waiting for you 'round the corner. Got me?"

"Okay, okay. The sacrifices one makes for two lovebirds…" the old man sighed as he walked out.

"Out!" bellowed Ranma heatedly, but her burst of temper didn't quite cover up her blush.

A blush Felicia noticed. **'The old man Happosai was obviously right on the money with his comment. Well, well, well, it seems my assumptions were correct,'** she thought with a smile, and a thought transformed her combat suit into her Black Cat garb, which, so she noticed, Ranma eyed with great appreciation.

"Like what you see, Ranma?" Felicia teased lightly and posed.

"Yes… err… pooh," Ranma stuttered, blushing, while Felicia's smile widened, "Err, now to that tour," the redhead said in an effort to get a grip on herself and threw herself into the Soul of Ice, "This here's obviously the guest bedroom," she said and waved her hand at the room.

"Yep, I can see that. Nice bed, by the way. Looks to be quite stable," Felicia commented with a wiggle of her brows in an effort to get Ranma to blush again.

And blush the redhead did as she easily caught on to what Felicia had hinted at. Ranma quickly walked out of the room in hopes to maintain her control, an amused Black Cat following. "The room to the right," she said after Felicia had stepped to her side, "is the guest bathroom, and the room over there," she turned and pointed her arm at the room adjacent to the guest bedroom, "is my training room."

"A training room… how's it equipped?" Felicia wanted to know as she followed Ranma to take a look at the said room.

"Equipped?" repeated Ranma in confusion, before understanding dawned on her, "Oh, you mean training equipment and so on. Well, none. You see, our symbiotes are better than any training equipment on this planet. In fact, Sym developed a training method where she creates a counterforce to my motions. Effective as hell. Imagine doing a kata-"

"'Kata'?" queried Felicia, but quickly turned her focus inward when SD began to explain just what a kata was, "Oh, a shadow fight. Okay."

"Not quite, but close. Well, imagine yourself doing a kata, and your symbiote counters your every move," Ranma enthused with shining eyes, "It's pure genius."

"I can see that. The efficiency must be enormous," Felicia thought out loud, her eyes gleaming as well.

"Oh yeah," nodded Ranma enthusiastically and waved her hand for the other woman to follow her downstairs, "it is. And do you know what's even better?" she asked as she led Felicia down the spiral staircase.

"No idea, I give up," Felicia said the five seconds it had taken to descend the stairs later.

Ranma didn't answer immediately, though, as she was overcome by the sudden urge to yawn. Seeing as the redhead hadn't moved from her position in the doorframe that led to the living room Felicia had an unobstructed view on a Ranma who was ever so slowly arching her back. This normally innocent action stretched her spine in that special way only females seemed to be able to pull off, and Felicia's eyes went wide off their own volition. The icing on the cake, so to speak, was the languorous sigh that escaped Ranma, and when the redhead pushed her arms up and behind her it was all Felicia could do not to question her sexual preferences.

Slowly slipping out of her unconsciously seductive pose Ranma grinned sheepishly, "Sorry," she demurred, and was a bit surprised when Felicia just nodded absently with her eyes glazed over. Shrugging to herself and dismissing her partner's strange behaviour Ranma picked up the line of conversation from before, "Anyway, once our muscles adapt and grow they stay in that 'optimised state' for as long as we aren't separated from our symbiotes. In other words, no muscular degeneration. Isn't that great?"

"Downright hot," the Black Cat replied, but wasn't really sure if she meant the phenomenal display of Ranma stretching she had just witnessed or the symbiote-granted advantage.

"I knew you'd see it my way," smiled Ranma obliviously, which allowed Felicia to focus on what the younger woman had said.

"Even more so if what I believe is true… say, wouldn't our, let's call it 'basic strength', directly influence our symbiote enhanced strength when it grows?"

"And that's the real kicker… yeah. That's why I can lift over seventy tonnes whereas you're as of now 'only' able to lift round about fifty. I've trained all my life, so it shan't be a surprise I'm stronger," Ranma explained.

"I see," Felicia muttered, her expression a bit sulky.

"Hey, we'll get you up to speed in no time," Ranma purred with a smile, "You'll see, once I take you in hand you'll improve in leaps and bounds."

"Can hardly wait," breathed Felicia, who had to once again exert iron control to keep her emotions in check due to Ranma's choice of wording which had spawned a lot of interesting mental images, "And this," she pointed to behind Ranma, "is the living room?"

"Yeah," Ranma said and turned around, and as she entered the living room she unconsciously strutted which resulted in a dry-mouthed Black Cat who began to _seriously _doubt her sexual preferences until SD reminded her of Ranma's dual genderdedness which helped put things into perspective, "this," the redhead waved her arm in a wide arc, her smile showing off two rows of perfect white teeth, "is my living room. Bigger than anything I ever owned before combined, and all mine," she concluded proudly.

A low whistle escaped Felicia as she let her gaze travel over the appealingly decorated room, "Very nice, Ranma. I like it," she commented and meant it.

Ranma, who had carefully paid attention to Felicia's tone, beamed with pride, "Thank you. Now let's-"

A binging sound from the kitchen interrupted the redhead and she raised a scarlet brow, "-check what the letch's been up to," she concluded, and guided her steps out of the living room and towards the kitchen.

Felicia followed her on the heel, and upon entering the kitchen she found a scowling Ranma, "Figures you should go and snatch away the last lasagne," the redhead grumbled with her hands on her hips, and Felicia watched with interest as the old man simply shrugged, prompting Ranma to sigh instead of reacting violently, "Stupid me for giving you free reign in the first place, ne? I ain't hungry anyway."

"I always thought the day you admitted to not being hungry would be the day the world would end," chuckled Happosai.

A small smile made Ranma's lips twitch, "Me too, Happi. But decreased appetite and less need for food's part and parcel of being a symbiote host, which is something you'll notice soon as well, kittie. Or has SD already told you?"

"Told me what?" queried Felicia.

"So she hasn't. Well, our symbiotes optimise our bodies in a way that requires us to take in a lot less food than normal humans," Ranma explained, and smiled sheepishly, "Saves a lot of time for me. I used to eat more than a whole battalion put together, really."

"And that's understated," piped up Happosai, only to receive a glare from Ranma; but the glare soon gave way to a contemplative expression, and finally the redhead shrugged.

"Okay, that probably ain't too far from the truth, I'll give you that," she admitted with a slight grin, "What about you, want something to eat, Felicia? There's still plenty left in the fridge to choose from."

"Thank you, Ranma, but I'm not really hungry. A cocoa would be wonderful, though," Felicia said.

"One cocoa, one caffè latte, coming right up," replied Ranma with a nod, "What about you, Happi?"

"A cocoa would be nice, m'dear," Happosai mused amicably, "And now to that wonderful dish," he muttered to himself as he regarded his lasagne like a particularly nice panty, a dreamy sigh escaping his lips as he picked up his plate, "You Americans have so wonderful food."

"Happi, you can get lasagne in every other Italian restaurant, not to mention every supermarket, even in Japan," deadpanned Ranma from the espresso machine.

"True, but not at the Tendo dojo, and I'm too busy with more important activities to do either," the perverted Grandmaster replied, not noticing the narrowing of Ranma's eyes due to him daydreaming about silky darlings, "Besides, Kasumi would never strike on the idea to make anything but traditional Japanese dishes," replied the Grandmaster, and added an "Oops!" when he registered the darkening of Ranma's face. "I'll be in the living room, m'dear," he called over his shoulder and hurried out of the kitchen.

Ranma glared at a spot at the far wall for a few more moments, then the redhead closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to reign in her emotions, Felicia watching her silently. Then, once the redhead had reestablished her control she opened her eyes and managed a smile at her friend, "Sorry, the simple mentioning of _them_ still makes my blood boil. But I'm working on it. I know I need a clear head and emotional distance if I want satisfying revenge."

"Yep," Felicia simply replied instead of giving an in-depth comment, "Now what about that cocoa I was promised? Seems the waitresses are a bit slow around here," she teased with a catty grin.

Ranma slowly let her combat suit morph into low-cut blue jeans that literally hugged her figure as well as a mid-riff baring white blouse, both articles of clothing leaving nothing to the imagination, "That may be, but therefore they're gorgeous," she teased back with a cocky flutter of her lashes.

Felicia just stared for a few moments before breaking out in giggles, Ranma soon joining her. Bantering with Felicia was fun, and if Ranma were honest to herself, that and the interaction as well as the growing feelings for her friend filled the void that had previously existed within her rather excellently.

-.-

A few minutes later the trio of two women and one man was lounging on Ranma's comfortable sofas, Felicia and Ranma having made themselves at home with cups full of cocoa and caffè latte respectively in hand.

Incidentally the two symbiote hosts had chosen the two-piece-sofa instead of one of them sitting with Happosai who was balancing the plateful of lasagne on his knees and munching away happily. Both women had folded their legs underneath their bodies and were holding their respective cups with both hands, Ranma and Felicia taking careful sips from time to time.

Happosai had thrown them a single knowing look that hadn't been noticed by either, and the Grandmaster was happy for his best student. Despite his deeds in the past, the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion incident being the worst example, he wished Ranma well. He was of the opinion that this young individual who appeared to be Fate's bitch more often than not deserved happiness. And happiness, he knew from experience, was often brought about by a stable, love-filled and happy relationship.

Now Happosai had seen many a relationship in his day, and he had to err gravely if those two were not attracted to each other, and strongly at that. What more, if this attraction was this strong while Ranma was female, just how strong would it be once this pretty thing by the name of Felicia saw male Ranma for the first time?

He had his suspicions as to that. Being a martial artist also meant knowing human physiology, and he had once read or heard that the phenomenon called 'love at first sight' was largely influenced by the immune systems of the partners. The more diverse, the better, and it seemed that Ranma's and Felicia's immune systems were diverse enough yet complimentary for the attraction between them to be this strong while Ranma was female.

Suppressing a grin at the thought that the Anything Goes style might just see worthy heirs in the future Happosai attacked his lasagne with renewed vigour, and thanks to a speed-eating technique the old man had polished his plate thirty seconds later.

Glancing over at the lovebirds brought a smile to his lips. Each woman seemed to be deeply in thought while occasionally sipping from their brew, and both were repeatedly stealing glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. **'Just like love-struck teenagers,'** Happosai mused,**'Ahh, to be young and in love…'**

Sipping his own cocoa which Ranma had placed in front of him Happosai continued to watch the antics of the redhead and the platinum blonde woman until their beating around the bush ceased to be entertaining, and leaning forward he cleared his throat.

Ranma's and Felicia's reactions were similar and amusing, and almost caused Happosai to erupt in laughter. Both caught themselves looking at each other, blushed in unison and looked away before looking at Happosai.

"Ladies, now that I have your attention I believe we should get down to business. Ranma, what we didn't discuss last time is what happened in Nerima after your conviction. And it may or may not come as a surprise to you, your fall began nowhere else but in Nerima," concluded Happosai seriously.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, and then Ranma turned chilling blue eyes on the Grandmaster, "So it was one of them after all. Do tell, Happi, and leave nothing out. I want to know everything."

**to be continued**…

Thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):**

Wonderbee31, Anime-Freak317, Kaiya Reimiya, Howard Russell, weebee, Baughn, Fluffy, Ranchee, Dragon Man 180, sowhatimlate, bissek, I am the Bane of my Sword, firelordeg, sippio, Innortal, GrizzlyBiscuit, Choas Babe, James Axelrad, zmanjz, Jerry Unipeg, Metroidvania, oblivionknight7, KaiserPhoenix, Sdarian, Tuisto, Aocasio10, Mesterio, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, slimjim27, Darkforce222, ss4-link, Hiryo, Lord Oberon, Cardinel, mystery person, ranko lina Inverse, Dumbledork, Peter Kim, Garfish, Abudharma, Dracomancer1, Bobboky, Nth, ranma hibiki, Driver Jim Ohki, Carnage rules, DoWnEr, Raven Hufflepuff, BlazeStryker, M-Blade, Screaming Dean, Shinlong17349, shadowknight0001, Redzorin, ArimaFan, Here's Hoping, DarkBlueHated, Katana Haibane, MrEmperor, dragondude90, They call Me Bruce, New lord of darkness, shadowoflames, Asgeras, Captain Deadpool, The DCG, dragonwings7373, LovRanmaFanfic, Tasuxeda, moritynz

**Some quick notes**:

Not really much to say here. I know it took me damn long, but I had some darn difficult exams to get through, and then there was the fact that I kept on changing scenes for what seemed forever, and I still ain't completely satisfied. And that I ain't got a betareader at the moment – see my yahoo group for details – which translates into I had no one to kick my lazy ass didn't really help.

Anyway, more of my notes – the Q&A section, to be specific – can be found at my yahoo group. Peace out.


	12. Revelations

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 12: Revelations**

Happosai, Grandmaster of the Anything Goes and an alien in a foreign country stared at the closed blinds that obstructed the view into the spacey living room he was currently sitting in, a far away look adorning his aged face. The said living room as well as the rest of the flat he was at incidentally belonged to his best pupil ever, one young, gender-changing individual formerly known as Ranma Saotome, convicted for five-fold murder in New York City, declared Ronin by his Clan after said conviction and declared dead after a – seemingly – botched prison break. And innocent to boot.

What the public didn't know aside from Ranma being innocent was that he – or rather she, for the time being, due to certain biological circumstances he didn't dare tease her about – was still alive, which was incidentally what he, Happosai had believed all along. Not the way he'd have assumed, though, through tricks and deceit, no, nothing ever seemed to be normal for his gender-changing student, and she just had to bond with an alien symbiote of all things in prison. A symbiote that gave her enormous powers and abilities in addition to her own prodigal talents and skills.

In his opinion this was only just payment for what Ranma had lived through, karmic payback so to speak, and these powers would go a long way in helping Ranma prove her innocence. The same was true for the partner Ranma had picked up along the way, as far as he could tell.

Amusement bubbled to the surface as Happosai let his thoughts wander, but his inner gaiety faded quickly when he considered the bigger picture. Ranma had _always_ managed to attract gorgeous women, the only weakness in his ability to attract these women had been that most – if not all – of his suitors had been too immature and headstrong to allow for a relationship of equals. Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo and most of all the insane Kodachi had been prime examples of that.

Ranma's new friend on the other hand, Felicia, seemed to be the exact opposite, as far as he could tell. Confident, secure in her personality, fun-loving and easy-going, yet with an underlying core of steel. Which was just what his favourite student needed. A person to support him, believe in him and help him become the person he – and she – would be. There was no doubt that Ranma was a remarkable person already – which was easily proven by the fact that he'd survived everything life had thrown his way – but he'd still ways to go, and it just seemed that Felicia would be able to render the support his student needed.

Happosai allowed himself to feel relief. Even though he hadn't believed in Ranma's death, it had looked very bleak for the Anything Goes style with his heir first locked away a convicted murderer then declared dead, but now, now things were looking up.

The Grandmaster of the Anything Goes briefly collected his thoughts and spontaneously decided upon an approach of how to best weave his tale, then he snapped back to reality, his dark eyes focussing exclusively on Ranma. "After I'd failed to bail you out of this high-security vault of a prison I began to sniff out trails that might have led me to the proof I needed to get you a new trial. Sadly but unsurprisingly all trails around here had long since turned cold.

"I felt bad about leaving you here all by yourself, but after weeks on end spent running into dead ends I decided I'd to return to Japan. Don't get me wrong, I know you're a big girl, big guy too, but damn, they'd thrown you into a damned high security fortress in a foreign country. For five-fold murder of teens. I'm sure anyone can do the math that being stuck with super-powered maniacs and murderers couldn't have been a bed of roses, no?"

"No, it wasn't," Ranma ground out between clenched teeth as unwelcome memories assaulted her, and the redhead needed a few moments to reign her emotions in. "Thanks for caring, old lech, I mean it. But now on with the story," she prompted.

"As you wish. I returned to Nerima roughly three weeks prior to your apparent demise, and believe it or not, the ingrates carried on like nothing had happened," Happosai continued in a disgusted tone.

"Figures," Ranma spat, her face a scowling mask, "I always knew they'd drop me like a leper once I stopped being useful to them. And you can't get any more useless than a convicted heir, eh?"

"Ranma," Felicia spoke up and laid her left hand on Ranma's right, the physical contact snapping the redhead instantly out of her funk, "that's in the past. Don't let it haunt you in the here and now and concentrate on paying them back in the future," the platinum blonde encouraged with a cheering smile.

"Okay," Ranma replied, and to her her hoarse reply sounded totally lame, but Felicia's hand on her own seemed to have spawned a horde of butterflies in her stomach, leaving her unable to say anything more sophisticated.

Felicia smiled at the distracted redhead for a few moments longer, then she turned her head to look at Happosai, her demeanour growing serious and downright angry, "What I still can't wrap my mind around is that Ranma's parents did nothing to help her. What kinda parent would condemn their child to rot in prison and not lift a finger?"

Happosai smiled at her sadly, and sensing Ranma's darkening mood he hurried to explain, "A mother with a very warped view of reality would. You see, Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother-"

"Only by birth," spat Ranma, glaring darkly, not noticing in her anger that Happosai had completely left out her father.

"-lives by the conviction that nothing, really nothing is more important than honour, and the family honour in particular-"

"Which I'll be happy to bring down around her ears when the time comes," Ranma interrupted once more, causing Felicia to squeeze her hand again, which made the younger woman fall silent.

"-not even the lives of family members. Have you told her about the contract, Ranma?" Happosai asked after swivelling his head to look at the redhead.

"Contract?" echoed Felicia, arching a silver brow.

"No, I haven't, obviously. This… contract and the idiocy it represents makes me too angry," replied Ranma, her brows furrowing in irritation.

"I have to tell her anyway so she gets an accurate picture," the Grandmaster replied with a shrug.

"Fine, go ahead, old lech," Ranma retorted, seemingly uncaring, but that she pinched the bridge of her nose belied her annoyance.

Happosai rummaged in his pockets for a few seconds, and a small grin appeared on his face, "Foundcha," he crowed and produced his trusty pipe which he immediately lit; taking deep puffs he regarded Felicia with a serious gaze and exhaled, blowing a cloud of smoke from his nostrils.

"The contract in question was drawn up when Ranma was approximately five years old, between Ranma, Ranma's father Genma-"

"He ain't my father," interrupted Ranma with a scowl so fierce that Happosai didn't speak on, "A real father would've helped me, and after all the time and effort he invested in me Genma should've all the more. Yet he didn't, and that means he didn't care. He betrayed me, just like the rest of them," she concluded bitterly, and as much as she tried to remain in control of her emotions, tears glistened in the corners of her eyes.

Happosai watched Ranma sadly as the redhead tried to rein her emotions in, yet a brief smile made its way on his face when Felicia took Ranma's hand into her own and began to stroke it softly. Nodding to himself he exhaled another cloud of smoke and allowed himself to relax into the cushions, "Don't be too sure about that, Ranma-chan," he said mysteriously, his dark eyes unreadable.

His comment caused a perplexed Ranma to look up at him sharply, yet before she had a chance to question him the Grandmaster had already continued, "As said, the contract was drawn up between Ranma, Genma and Nodoka Saotome when Ranma was round about five. In a nutshell, Genma had to raise Ranma into the best martial artist of her – back then his – generation and a man among men."

"'Man among men'?" queried a curious Felicia, who had not let go of Ranma's hand.

A pissed off Ranma wanted to answer that particular question all too gladly, but Happosai beat her to it, "First off, the term 'man among men' is open to interpretation. Widely so. In Nodoka's opinion, which was decisive in regards of the contract, it described a man of loose morals, someone involved with multiple women. A man were manly according to Nodoka if he peeped in on women at every opportunity, had sex with them and gave her many, many grandkids. Really nothing wrong with these ideas," he shrugged, "But-"

"But there was still that tiny little titbit that allowed her to chop off my head in case I turned out to be 'unmanly'," Ranma cut in, making mocking air quotes, "And what with me turning into a woman with cold water it's easy to do the math," she added angrily, and steam seemed to billow from her nostrils.

"'Chop off your head', Ranma? That's a joke, right?" Felicia queried uncertainly, her gaze switching between Ranma and Happosai, who met her disbelieving gaze with serious, stony expressions, "No joke?" she whispered, paling.

"No joke," Ranma confirmed bitterly, but her expression softened a bit when Felicia squeezed her hand yet again; her blue eyes met Felicia's sad green ones, "Any time she visited, I hid from her in female form in the guise of Ranko Tendo,"

"Ronin Ranko," Felicia interjected, understanding dawning in her eyes, "Damn, that must've been hard."

"Yeah, it was. I hid right under her nose any time she visited _them_, and despite everything, she was my mother. To have her so close by yet so far away was... frustrating," Ranma admitted with a wavering voice, yet her clouded gaze darkened quickly, "But believe me, this whole charade gave me plenty of opportunity to learn that she was deadly serious about the penalty clause in the contract. She _would_ have gone through with it had she found me wanting," she explained, her eyes hard.

"'Would have'? So she did not?" Felicia queried.

"No, she didn't," admitted Ranma, "She found out that Ranko Tendo and her son Ranma were one and the same during a wild goose chase for some family treasure, and 'cause I saved her from drowning towards the end of the chase she declared me manly. From then on out she was always on my case to ensure I was manly. It was darn annoying. 'Ranma be manly this, Ranma be manly that'. Feh."

"Was that woman for real?" Felicia asked incredulously as soon as she'd absorbed what Ranma had said.

"Oh yes," assured Happosai, his pipe lighting up as he took another puff and exhaled slowly, "As Ranma said, she was _deadly_ serious about it. Why? No one knows for sure, maybe not even Nodoka. I can only hazard the guess she wanted grandkids to spoil really badly as some kind of ersatz for Ranma, seeing as she missed out on Ranma's childhood for over ten years. I assume she wanted to witness her 'manly' and 'womanly' grandkids grow up and have a major hand in bringing them up. Totally loony, if you ask me."

"Hell yeah," agreed Felicia immediately and shook her head, "Here she had a son who could also be a daughter to her, which I'm sure is something a lot of mothers would've jumped at. But what does this Nodoka? Instead of seizing the chance with both hands and thanking the heavens for having someone, her own child even, she could relate to even more than before she did the polar opposite. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you, Ranma," she finished with audible empathy in her voice, her hand squeezing the redhead's once again.

"It was," admitted Ranma, her voice as hard as diamond, "But that was nothing on what she did in court. She made it abundantly clear that she really believed me capable of having killed these poor kids, and it was like a stab through the heart when she said she wished she had found me wanting. She ceased being my mother that day."

"I can't believe it. Why would a mother believe that of her child?" queried Felicia disbelievingly.

"Maybe 'cause she had allowed her only child to be taken from her at the age of five and didn't see it in ten years? Maybe 'cause she didn't know me at all? Maybe 'cause keeping the precious family honour unsullied was more important? Who cares? She did, that's what counts," mused Ranma in a cold tone, her eyes holding an angry expression that held underlying tones of sadness.

"Oh Ranma," Felicia sighed and pulled Ranma into a sideways hug which the redhead briefly resisted before giving in, "It was never easy for you, was it?" she whispered and softly stroked the younger woman's hair.

Ranma, who felt she had someone to draw strength from for the first time in long, shook her head, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her, "No, it wasn't," she admitted softly seeing that she didn't trust her voice and blinked away tears, "but things seem to be looking up lately," she concluded with a small smile and leaned a bit more into Felicia.

A soft smile played in the corners of the Black Cat's mouth as well, "For me as well, Ranma, for me as well."

-.-

Happosai let Ranma and Felicia bask in each other's presence for a while longer, then, after several minutes he cleared his throat, "As said, they continued as if Ranma had never existed, and it sickened me to the core. But I kept my opinion to myself after I'd chewed them out once but good. It was like talking to a wall though, the dunderheads just didn't want to listen to reason. All except one, and this one was a real surprise."

Ranma, who'd been practically cuddling into Felicia, looked up in surprise and fixed Happosai with a curious stare, "Oh? Do tell."

"Happy to, Ranma-chan, especially because I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction. It was in the fourth week after my return to Nerima that he approached me. Everyone else was out, and believe me, I was as surprised as you'll be. Here goes…"

_Happosai was sitting in a cross-legged position on the floor of his room, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that he was far from happy. Supper had been over since half an hour ago, and every resident had left the house for one reason or another. Probably to escape the main reason, his wrath, the Grandmaster mused with a scowl._

_He didn't care either way what the other inhabitants of the Tendo-ke were doing or how they felt, for no one in this house mattered to him any more, not after what had happened at the trial and especially not since they had collectively decided to pretend Ranma had never existed. Were it not for two factors, A) free board and lodging and B) that he needed a base from which to strike out so as to find clues for Ranma's innocence he would've left without looking back._

_Their collective decision had served to incense him and had left him on a slow boil over the weeks, but that Soun had had the utter gall to practically demand he make Akane his heir at dinner tonight had been the final straw. He'd really lost his temper there and then and had given them a firsthand demonstration why he was a force to be feared, and not even their attempts to distract him with lingerie had worked._

_His fit of rage had sent Soun_ _–__and everyone else, Nabiki, Kasumi, Akane and even Nodoka included_ _–__packing. The memory made him snort in disdain. "Cowards, the lot of them. Ranma was different, he would've stood up to me no matter what," muttered the old man derisively._

_His mood changed into something approaching good, though, when he fingered the mountain of panties and bras in front of him. Liberating silky darlings had become his only joy ever since Ranma's incarceration and his subsequent return after failing to bail him out, and even that was losing its appeal. It was probably due to his surroundings and company, Happosai mused with another snort._

_He'd just picked up a particularly fine panty when his senses registered another's presence in front of his door, and moments later that someone hesitantly knocked on said door. Happosai shook his head and was getting angry. What did these traitors want now? That he heave Akane, who was light-years away from Ranma in terms of talent, dedication, skill and power, on a pedestal? They could just forget about it; never would he even consider making Akane his heir, sooner he'd donate a pair of ice skates to Hell for the underworlds' first ever ice skating contest._

_Hissing angrily he spat out, "Come in if you dare."_

_For long moments nothing happened, then, finally the door was pushed open. Genma was standing in the doorframe, a worried and submissive expression on his face, and he visibly had to force himself to speak, "Master, may I have some moments of your precious time?" he asked with his head bowed._

_Happosai glared, "Fine, but make it quick. I don't fancy listening to reasons why Akane should be made the new heir."_

_"I assure you it's nothing of that sort, master. Master, I'm convinced that the boy… that Ranma can't have done what he was convicted for," Genma spoke up, his statement surprising Happosai so much that the biting retort he'd prepared died a sudden death, "I know Ranma, master, for I've been with him day and night for over ten years. He'd never have killed those teens, never, and I'd have sworn that up and down in front of the American court all too gladly hadn't it been for my not getting a damned travel permit. Ranma can't have killed those kids, he was framed!" the balding man concluded with conviction, fire burning in his eyes._

_Happosai was really thrown for a loop by Genma's speech, for that had been the last thing he'd have expected, yet he was even more surprised to see genuine tears in his students' eyes. Shaking his head Happosai chose to address a discrepancy that jumped out at him. "You didn't come forward with that in months, Genma. Why now, and why should I believe you?"_

_"Nodoka didn't want to hear any of it, master, not before Ranma'd been convicted nor afterwards. To her Ranma is dead, worse, has never existed. Period. Trying to talk to her regarding Ranma is like talking to the sun and expecting an answer, only more frustrating," Genma replied, and looked ready to rip out his remaining hairs, "It's only gotten worse now that the only thing she can think about is getting pregnant. But then you came back. Please, master, I've tried everything to get my hands on proof and am at my wits end. You're my last hope."_

_"I see. Go on, m'boy," Happosai mused, his suspicions slowly fading away._

_"After that tirade of yours today Nodoka has decided to visit an old friend of hers to talk shop about the best ways of getting pregnant, and with the others having fled from your wrath I felt I had to seize the chance to talk to you, Master. You do believe in Ranma's innocence as well. That makes us the only 'normal ones' in this madhouse, Master. But what can we do? There must be something we can do, there has to be," Genma sighed and sat down across from Happosai._

_"First off, I believe you, m'boy. At first I thought you were trying to play a cruel joke on me despite your knowledge of what would've happened to you," Happosai said with narrowed eyes, causing Genma to shudder in terror, "but after hearing the conviction behind your words I believe you're sincere." _

_The diminutive pervert snorted in disgust, "It goes without saying that the dunderheads who so steadfastly believe in Ranma's guilt are barking up the wrong tree, but it's too late now anyhow. Even if we were to find proof and Ranma were to be released from prison he'd never forgive any of them, and rightly so. The cuts just run too deep. _

_"Now to what we can do. We must find out who lured me away to Nizza, for I'm certain it is interconnected to what happened to Ranma," Happosai explained._

_"Someone wanted to have you out of the way!" Genma realised and snapped his fingers._

_"Exactly. This trip to Nizza was just too convenient, but I realised it too late. We must find out if others were affected similarly," Happosai said, "And we shall begin our investigation tomorrow!"_

"P-Pops did… does believe me?" Ranma marvelled, her face showing clearly that she was shocked beyond measure, "I'd never have thought… never have dreamed," she trailed off, "Pops of all people…"

"He surprised me as well, m'dear, but your father's a good man underneath that thick hide formed by stupidity and his tendency to run off half-cocked," Happosai mused, his tone honest and serious as he gazed at the teary-eyed redhead.

"And, did you find out if others were lured away as well?" asked Felicia to give Ranma time to collect herself, all the while stroking the redhead's hair.

"Oh yes, we did, and there were others. Ukyo Kuonji and her assistant, that... Kunoichi... Konatsu were lured away to an Okonomiyaki contest by our mysterious villain," Happosai exclaimed.

"So that's why Ukyo wasn't in court. But it doesn't explain why she never tried to visit me after my conviction," Ranma mused, keeping her face carefully neutral.

"If it's any consolation, she didn't believe Akane's and Nabiki's deliberations, but she drew her own conclusions from what they'd told her. She believed your mind had snapped in a way similar to what befell you during the Neko-ken episodes, resulting in that violent explosion. Young Miss Kuonji blamed herself for adding to the stress you were under and left Nerima quite heart-broken. To her it was little consolation that her father declared she'd fulfilled her mission," Happosai explained.

"So she didn't think I'd killed those teens in an act of sadism, but figured I'd snapped," Ranma mused after absorbing what Happosai had said, "So 'Ucchan' didn't know me quite as well as I thought. Maybe it's better this way, she might just be able to have a fresh start and find true happiness. Anyway, it's a relief I don't have to include her in my plans for revenge. I always did like her as a friend."

"That's the spirit, Ranma," piped up Felicia who was busy playing with a strand of Ranma's hair, "She did think you committed the acts in a state of... how did Matt Murdock phrase it in that court session I watched long ago? Oh yeah, 'diminished responsibility'. This Ukyo thought you hadn't been yourself when it happened, which is more than the others gave you credit for."

"Mmmmh," mused the redhead, who rather enjoyed Felicia's ministrations, "But what about the other Nerimans? The Kunos, Daisuke, Hiroshi, Sayuri, Yuka and the others?"

"I'll come to the Kunos later. Let's just say that Tatewaki kept on ranting that his 'beautiful pigtailed goddess' was innocent and would be delivered by the heavens. Seemed to be even more out of it than usual," Happosai shrugged and paused briefly to refill his pipe; once done he lit it and took a deep puff and exhaled a new cloud of smoke with a content sigh, "Your... friends or whatever you want to call them, well, the girls believed Akane."

"No wonder, they were always acting like Akane could do no wrong," Ranma muttered derisively, "No surprise there."

"The boys, well, they were unsure of what to think. I overheard them talking while I was conducting, err, research, and all they were willing to believe was that you had snapped due to the stress you had been under," Happosai explained and blew another cloud of smoke from his nostrils, "Which is pretty much what-"

"Ukyo believed as well, yeah," finished Ranma, "Meh, they never were that good friends anyway. Always hung out with me 'cause of the action, I guess. It'd have asked too much anyway for the Nerimans, who pretty much lived by the rule of blame Ranma first and let's see if the mud sticks, to give me the benefit of the doubt. The Wizard becoming a French Can-Can girl would be more probable than them taking my side."

"He's got the fitting colour-scheme already, our goatee," snorted Felicia, "Now if we could just get our hands on Drowned girl water," she mused only half-joking.

"Bah, let's not even mention the goatee. Though I gotta admit, I like the idea. It has... possibilities. Anyway, what about the Amazons and Ryoga?" Ranma wanted to know.

"Well, the Amazons... Cologne and Shampoo believed in your innocence, steadfastly so. Mousse... well, he was inclined to believe the worst of you, but wised up pretty quickly to proclaim this in front of Shampoo and/or Cologne. They continued to search for clues to prove your innocence, and even though I'm certain Cologne found the same clues as Genma and I she couldn't act on it. They were called back to China seeing as the pursuit of a quote 'dishonourable convicted male murderer' unquote was seen as undesirable. Feh, stupid Elder council," Happosai muttered, leaning back in his cushions after he had completed the explanation.

"That's pretty much what I expected. Cologne, stubborn old bat that she is, knew me. Sad that she knew me better than my own-" Ranma interrupted herself, scowled and shook her head, "It's nice to know they tried to help me."

Happosai, as well as Felicia, nodded in agreement, the former taking another puff from his pipe, his face darkening, "Ryoga... the idiot boy didn't take an hour before returning to his old ways. Blabbered about how you'd shown your true colours and how you'd gotten what you deserved. Seeing that things with that Akari girl hadn't worked out it didn't take him long to move in on Akane with the competition out of the way, especially considering he told her exactly what she wanted to hear."

"That's unsurprising, even if annoying. Him reacting the way he did, I mean. I could care less if they got married and had a bunch of pig-nosed brats, those two are so alike, they deserve each other. But let's face it, Ryoga was among those who blamed me for everything under the sun for the longest time. As said, him believing in my guilt comes as no surprise," Ranma mused.

"Were they really that bad?" Felicia wanted to know.

"To be honest, more often than not, yes," Happosai spoke up in Ranma's stead, "Despite Ranma's best efforts, her actions were most often interpreted in the worst possible light, and this mindset becomes easily understandable if you consider the following: a fiancée should know her fiancé pretty well, shouldn't she?" the old man asked.

Felicia briefly looked at Ranma, who busied herself with her coffee and did everything but look at them, before looking back at Happosai, "Yeah. It's the foundation of a good relationship and a good marriage, knowing your partner, I mean."

"Indeed," remarked Happosai with a satisfied nod, "But what would happen if the said fiancée, who should in point of fact know Ranma, very intimately so considering they lived under the same roof, claimed she was doing something 'perverted' at the barest suspicion? If she continued to blame Ranma for things not her fault, but that seemed like they _could _have been her fault?"

"Others... Others would take the fiancée's word for it and believe it as well," whispered Felicia, and shot Ranma a sad look which caused the redhead to gaze even more intently into her cup, steadfastly avoiding her gaze, "But... why? Why would a fiancée, a fiancée of all people do that? I know it was an arranged marriage, but to put your betrothed through that..."

An audible cracking sound could be heard from Felicia's right, and the surprised platinum blonde quickly swivelled her head to look at Ranma. What she saw confirmed her suspicions, the redhead had exerted too much pressure on the cup, shattering it; some of the coffee left in the cup had spilled on her jeans, which was rendered irrelevant due to Sym, but the majority had ended up on the floor.

"Excuse me, I have to clean up," Ranma commented in a toneless voice, stood up, wiped the floor with several napkins she had procured from a cupboard and quickly left the room, the broken pieces from her cup held in a slightly trembling hand.

Felicia gazed after her friend for a few moments with evident worry in her eyes, then she expelled a sigh and looked at Happosai, "Damn, what did that fiancée of hers do to her, and why?"

Happosai pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes before looking at Felicia, "This whole topic is nothing but annoying, which is why I'll give you but a brief summary and ask you to hold in questions or comments until after the explanation," he grumbled and took a moment to collect himself after Felicia had inclined her head in acquiescence, "Akane Tendo, the youngest daughter of my foolish student Soun Tendo, was chosen as Ranma's betrothed more than three years ago in an effort to join the Tendo and Saotome schools of the Anything Goes. The decision who was to be the betrothed wasn't made by Ranma or her father, or even Akane, no, her older sisters virtually shuffled Ranma off on the girl when they learned about the curse. A nice thing to do, I know.

"Ranma being a girl half the time would've been almost funny under the circumstances seeing that Akane loathed and deeply mistrusted boys at that point in time, which was due to a horde of boys trying to force themselves on her, but only almost.

"All it did was making Ranma coming to terms with her curse more difficult, which, as you know, she never managed in Nerima. It was made even more difficult seeing that Akane viewed the curse as something perverted instead of seeing it as a chance to have a fiancé that could also have been her best girlfriend with but a splash of water.

"A boy that changed into a real girl and could touch and see all the 'girl parts' whenever he wanted could only be perverted in Akane's eyes, which was quite foolish, seeing as Ranma simply doesn't have what it takes to be a pervert. I'm one of the biggest there are, I can tell. In fact, I was hard pressed to detect even a hint of interest where anything sexual is concerned in Ranma during his time in Nerima. But that may have had to do therewith that had she shown said interest in any of the girls, it would've inevitably damaged the other girls' honour. Yes, Ranma was virtually trapped, damned if she acted, damned if not.

"But let us return to Akane. Sad as it is, the girl never developed any real trust in Ranma, regardless of how often Ranma risked her life for her. It didn't help that the girl more often than not resorted to physical violence to express her displeasure about something Ranma had done or might've done either. The girl was just too... fiery-tempered, and yes, prone to jump to conclusions without having all the pertinent facts. Violent as well.

"That's not to say Ranma was much better before life forced her to grow up the hard way. Ranma was admittedly more often than not not quite blameless and she sure as hell was no saint either, rather the opposite, she was brash, arrogant, insensitive, over-confident and downright cocky in her time in Nerima, but she never did anything to warrant Akane and the others believing her capable of cold-blooded murder. Fools, the lot of them.

"Maybe it's because they became so used to blaming everything on Ranma, maybe they believed their own mantras in the end. Who can say for certain? The upshot was that Ranma was framed. Everything from then on out is history," Happosai concluded and treated himself to a good, long drag from his pipe.

Felicia went over what Happosai had said, and once the words had sunken in the Black Cat shook her head in displeasure, "Che, it's really no wonder Ranma had lost faith in her fellow human beings with that kinda past history. That makes it just the more astonishing that she has opened up as much as she has."

"True, true," Happosai agreed and took another long drag from his pipe, "There can be no doubt that you're good for her, and I daresay that I could easily see the two of you in a relationship. Much more easily than was ever the case with Akane before things went downhill."

Felicia couldn't help but smile briefly, but the smile faded when she gained a thoughtful air, "I hope so. As for Ranma's relationship with this Akane, I can't really judge the girl seeing as I know her from nothing but hearsay, but oh man, this girl sure seems to be a piece of work. I mean, hitting Ranma to solve a dispute? And always suspecting her of being up to something 'perverted' was really the way to build trust," she said sarcastically, a frown marring her face, "Anyone who can't see what a wonderful person Ranma is and treats her as this girl did, is blind as a bat. I mean, you just have to keep in mind that Ranma still does her damn best to help people, despite everything she's been through! If that ain't the hallmark of a good person then I dunno. And I can't believe that was any different in Nerima. Probably the opposite.

"I've only known Ranma for a few days, but have come to know her as someone who cares and is willing to give, and that, taking into account all the curve balls life has thrown at her is nothing short of amazing. Me, I dunno if I hadn't broken long ago. All I can say, anyone who turns their back on someone like Ranma doesn't deserve her, plain and simple," she concluded solemnly and crossed her arms underneath her chest.

"Do... Do you really mean that?" spoke up a tentative yet hopeful voice from the door.

Felicia turned her head and a smile bloomed on her face, "Of course I do, silly. Now come here and sit down, I want to hear the rest of the story, and I rather liked a certain redhead cuddled into my side."

"Is that so?" Ranma asked, a bit of her cockiness returning now that she'd gotten the emotional charge she'd needed, "Then I'll do my best to please," she added and resumed the position she had left two minutes ago with a smile.

Once comfortably seated – read cuddled into Felicia – Ranma gazed at Happosai, curiosity gleaming in her eyes, "What did you find out about the perpetrator himself, Happi?"

"'Perpetrator'?" Happosai repeated and shook his head in bemusement, "I still have to get used to you using big words, Ranma-chan, but it's a good change. A really good martial artist strives to acquire a well rounded education so that he or she can fall back on a broad well of knowledge." he said sagely and took a deep puff from his pipe.

— _**My words exactly. —**_ spoke up Sym, who had been silent for the longest time.

Exhaling a large cloud of smoke from his mouth Happosai stared at Ranma, "Your father and I took to investigating. Officially I took him on training trips, and nobody dared object. Accomplished martial artists that we are it didn't take us long to narrow down the list of suspects. Two suspects remained in the end, Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno."

"Kodachi I can imagine, she downright loathed my female form and never got it through her thick skull that her 'Ranma-sama' and I are one and the same. But Tatewaki? Nah," Ranma thought out loud.

"We had to take into account that both are nut-jobs, Ranma. Who was to say that Tatewaki's plan hadn't been to discredit your male form and something went wrong?" Happosai countered.

"If you put it this way, yeah, I can see the logic behind that," Ranma admitted.

"But something happened that confirmed your suspicions one way or the other, didn't it?" asked Felicia.

"This woman's a keeper, Ranma-chan. See that you don't botch this up," Happosai reprimanded surprisingly seriously, his demand causing both women to blush. "But yes, right you are, Felicia-chan. I remember it as if it was yesterday… wait, I sound like an old coot telling his grandkids stories, gah!" he exclaimed and quickly reached into one of his pockets.

Felicia, who had no idea really what was going on, turned a questioning look at the puddle of redhead cuddled into her, "What's he doing?"

"Oh, he's absorbing female ki via touching female undergarments. You see, Happi gets his energy from that," explained Ranma lazily.

The Black Cat raised a brow in incredulity but refrained from commenting on that strange habit, "So, what happened, Mr. Happosai?"

"Just Happosai, m'dear. Any friend of Ranma's is my friend, and especially a beautiful lady such as you, Felicia-chan," Happosai replied.

"Err, thanks, I think," Felicia retorted uncertainly.

"Suck-up," was Ranma's comment in Happosai's direction.

"I'll pretend I haven't heard that," Happosai said dignifiedly, "Now to the Kunos- after my failed attempt to bail you out of jail I returned to Nerima, as you know. I figured that if I could find the real culprit I might succeed where I so shamefully failed before. But that female guard was just soooo cute," he sighed with big round eyes.

"Leetch," grumbled Ranma as the perverted Grandmaster continued to be lost in his memories.

"Err, yeah, as said, I turned to investigate with your father's unexpected help, but we had no proof that'd incriminate the Kunos. We seemed to have run into a dead end, but then, one week after we'd begun to sniff around, round about five weeks ago on the day your death was announced it happened," Happosai trailed off and took another puff from his pipe.

"What happened?" demanded Ranma intently and moved away from Felicia in favour of leaning forward to stare at Happosai, which elicited a brief frown on the Black Cat's part.

Happosai exhaled and his eyes, which had stared off into space, focussed on Ranma, "She had allegedly appeared at the Tendo dojo uncounted times to demand they 'unhand her Ranma-sama', but as far as I know Nabiki or whoever happened to be present told her that her 'Ranma-sama' had gone on a year long training trip."

"Kodachi," Ranma growled, blue eyes flashing.

"Her. I suppose they wanted to tell her that you'd died on that trip after the year was up," the Grandmaster mused with a shrug.

"Figures," Ranma growled, "So what happened this day that was different? What did Kodachi do?"

"It happened as follows…"

_The Tendos, Saotomes and a grouchy Happosai were seated around the low living room table. Kasumi had served supper and the residents of the Tendo dojo were consuming the meal in silence, as had become the norm. In contrast to normal it was no oppressive silence, and it seemed that especially Nodoka was bursting at the seams to announce something. Something he, Happosai, already had a very accurate guess at, yet which the rest of the household had yet to be told._

_Happosai scowled inwardly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman was ready to reveal she was pregnant, and while the unborn child was innocent it didn't change the fact that it would be the final step to replace Ranma. And that didn't sit well with him._

_His inward scowl threatened to appear on his face when Nodoka laid down her chopsticks, cleaned her mouth with a napkin and opened her mouth to speak. The expectant silence was suddenly disrupted by high-pitched and downright demented laughter which destroyed the moment beautifully, though, and Happosai almost laughed out loud. Black rose petals swirling around her she landed on the porch and entered unbidden. Kodachi Kuno._

_Grinning like a madwoman and completely ignorant of the fact that all eyes were on her as if it were a given the teenage girl strolled to the table, a folded newspaper under her arm. Looking directly at Nodoka she opened her mouth, "I demand you unhand my Ranma-sama this instant, lowly peasants!"_

_It was quite apparent that Kodachi had lost even the last shreds of respect she had held for Ranma's mother after all the brush-offs she had experienced in past months, and Nodoka's brows furrowed in visible irritation at the younger woman's tone, "Young lady, I've told you time and again, your 'Ranma-sama' is not here," she retorted in a very peeved tone, "In fact, I've no time for your escapades seeing that I-"_

_"Enough of your lies and deceits!" exclaimed Kodachi heatedly and unfolded the newspaper she had brought; it turned out to be the New York Times of today's date, and the front page read '__**Ronin Ranko dies in botched prison break!'**_

_Happosai heard himself gasp, but a quick glance around the table revealed that only Genma was similarly affected. Anyone else was wearing looks that ranged from uncaringness to satisfaction, and the old Grandmaster felt that he was a hairsbreadth away from exploding into their self-righteous visages. However, Kodachi's next words stopped him cold and turned his world on its ear._

_"Now that I have done away with the red-haired harlot __**once and for all**__ you will unhand my Ranma-sama this instant!" Kodachi Kuno demanded, smugness palpably radiating off of her._

_It took a few seconds for this virtual bombshell to penetrate, yet once it had chaos reigned and everyone was talking all at once. Genma however had jumped to his feet, his face so red that it looked like he was about to have a stroke, "Now-that-you-have-done-what!" he roared, and spit was flying from his mouth in his rage._

_A few quick, long strides took him to in front of the insane girl, and the normally easy-going man seemed like a giant as he towered over the Kuno girl. The Black Rose of St. Hebereke was not to be intimidated, though, and grinned toothily, "You should thank me, father of my Ranma-sama. I have freed my darling from the clutches of the red-haired harridan that has so bewitched him in the past!"_

_"Can- Can it be true? Is she telling the truth, and we were wrong all along?" piped up a pallid Akane when Kodachi paused to take a breath._

_"Maybe she has really lost it and is just rambling, maybe she's trying to take credit for his death, who knows?" mused Nabiki, her expression thoughtful but uncaring._

_"Bewitched!" bellowed Genma in Kodachi's face, a red aura swirling around him that made the surprised girl inch backwards, "How can my son's female form have bewitched his male form? Answer me!"_

_"Genma, calm down," spoke up Happosai in an authoritative tone that caused utter silence at the table, "M'dear, just how did you manage that stroke of genius to get Ranma all for yourself?" he asked in a curious and admiring voice._

_Kodachi, who felt she'd found an admirer of her brilliant plan, looked away from the seething Genma and smiled at the ostensibly adulatory Happosai, her chest swelling with pride, "It was so easy to frame the harridan, so embarrassingly easy that I do not understand to this day why I didn't come up with this plan sooner," she enthused, ignorant of the uneasy glances that were exchanged between the females at the table, "The most noble and ancient clan of Kuno has shares in many a company overseas, and it just happens that we have controlling shares in an American company named Oscorp. This company is very advanced in regards of bio-technology, and incidentally, cloning, yet this is not known to the public, of course. Do you now realise my brilliance?" the leotard clad girl asked smugly, leaving it to Happosai to draw his conclusions._

_"Cloning… oh yes," Happosai breathed, hard pressed not to rip this deranged girl who'd so cleverly framed his prized student in half, "I always wondered if it might have been a mirror clone, but dismissed the idea seeing as they can't be pre-programmed in the way the Ranma-chan clone had to have been and fade away pretty quickly after their creation. Real cloning never even crossed my mind…" he trailed off in wonder, and Kodachi mistook his expression for adulation, grinning broadly._

"_Yes, sometimes even I, the great Kodachi of House Kuno marvel at my genius," the gymnast stated haughtily. _

_"You… You-" began Genma, who was seething in rage upon having drawn the same conclusions, yet was unable to form coherent words in his rage and subtly held back by Happosai by the Grandmaster pressing several pressure points lightning quick._

_"You got your hands on genetic material of the 'red-haired harridan' and let this company, Oscorp, was it, create a clone for you. Probably one that obeyed your commands. Everything from then on out is history, as they say," he said, and shook his head in silent disbelief._

_"That I did," Kodachi confirmed, mistaking his disbelief for astonishment in face of her genius, "With the possibilities open to my clan it was easier than stealing a lollipop from a baby, as the commoners say. The harridan had just gone too far when she dared claim my Ranma-sama at what should have been my wedding!"_

_"I-I have to lie down. I don't feel so well," Akane, who'd gone white as a sheet, suddenly said._

_"I-I'll help you, imouto-chan," Kasumi spoke up, who'd gone very white as well, and without another word the two young women left the table._

_Out of the three sisters only Nabiki stayed, and even the usually calm and controlled middle sister had visibly been thrown for a loop. It was anyone's guess why she stayed, yet Happosai, who'd watched the glances the sisters had exchanged surmised that it might just be that Nabiki wanted to record these interesting developments till the end._

_"So you punished her for taking what was rightfully yours, is that it?" Happosai queried after he'd swivelled his head to look at the still triumphantly grinning Kuno girl, who was visibly looking for applause._

_"Yes. The harlot got what she deserved in the end, and I will get my Ranma-sama just for me," crowed Kodachi Kuno._

_"You vile, evil bitch!" exploded the still paralysed Genma into the surprised Kodachi's face, and Happosai used the stunned silence to take a good look at the faces of Nodoka and Nabiki; surprise was the prevalent emotion without a doubt._

_Nodoka's face turned into a stoic, unreadable mask as she alternated her gaze between Kodachi and her husband, and the Saotome matriarch muttered something about 'honour restored' which prompted the old Grandmaster to shudder in disgust and to look back at the conflict at hand._

_Genma's expression was murderous and he began to shake like a leaf in his impotent rage, and then, suddenly, he had overcome the paralysis pressure points by sheer willpower and determination. Shaking with rage he closed in on Kodachi who began to slowly back away, a fearful and uncomprehending expression on her face, "W-What are you doing? You should thank-"_

_"__**Thank**__ you! You psychotic little girl, do you have an idea of what you've done? You practically killed your 'Ranma-sama'. You as good as killed my son!" Genma bit out in a voice colder than ice._

_"W-What?"_

_"I can't believe that I once took your money although I sensed just how insane you are, girl," Genma muttered and bowed his head, before looking back up and lacing Kodachi with a murderous stare, "My son, your 'Ranma-sama', has… had a curse. A curse that caused him to change into a girl with cold water. Warm water restored his form. Have a guess who he changed into? The 'red-haired harridan' you framed and killed!" he concluded icily._

_"Hah! You're lying!" retorted Kodachi, who had recovered her wits during Genma's tirade, "Other peasants have tried to convince me time and again that my beloved darling and the harlot are one and the same. You won't succeed either, for this is impossible! A man as manly as my Ranma-sama can not change into a girl!"_

_"Master?" Genma queried with a meaningful look at Happosai._

_The old Grandmaster nodded and disappeared into the kitchen without a word, and a minute later he came back, a large, transparent carafe of water in his tiny hands. Not saying another word he placed the carafe right next to a still full pot of tea, "Watch this, Kodachi Kuno, and watch intently," the old man advised, and pitched a gust of cold water at Genma._

_**# Do you understand now, girl?**__ # Genma-panda demanded with his fangs barred after he'd changed into his animal form in front of the disbelieving eyes of the Kuno girl, waving his sign in front of the stunned young woman's face._

_"A trick… it's gotta be a trick," the deranged Kuno girl muttered to herself, her wide eyes staring unblinkingly at the panda in front of her._

_As if on cue Happosai pitched warm tea at the panda, who transformed back into Genma, "No trick, you foolish girl. Do you realise what your delusions have caused? They killed my son!" he hissed._

_"N-No," stuttered Kodachi, violently shaking her head, "it can not be! I refuse to believe it!"_

_Without a word Happosai changed Genma into a panda, and this time Genma used his massive paws to leave deep indentions in the low living room table, signifying that he was truly a panda in this form. # __**These,**__ # he held up his left paw threateningly while the right held the sign, completely ignoring Soun's and his wife's disapproving looks seeing that he could have cared less about damaging the table, # __**are not for show, neither are those,**__ # he signed, baring his fangs in the most threatening way._

_"B-But," stammered a wide eyed Kodachi, and upon Genma's nod Happosai changed him back, and repeated the process several times until he ran out of water, "Do you believe it now? I could do that all day, and it would change nothing. My student here has a curse that causes him to change into the panda you just saw him transform into with cold water. And Ranma was afflicted similarly."_

_"H-How?" managed Kodachi, who still couldn't wrap her mind around this concept._

_"It's a magical curse. Genma and Ranma both have one, as do several others you know. Although in Ranma's case one could rather say 'had' one, thanks to your efforts. Genma here changes into the panda you've seen any time he comes in contact with cold water, Ranma used to change into the 'red-haired harridan' you so hated. And now, thanks to you Ranma is dead," Happosai concluded gravely._

_"You as good as killed my son, you stupid bitch! My only son!" Genma roared, and trailed off towards the end, tears beginning to stream down his face._

_"B-But that can't be true! My Ranma-sama and the harridan can't be one and the same! That can not be, must not be!" exclaimed Kodachi fearfully as the possibility hit her that Genma and Happosai were telling the truth._

_"Delude yourself all you want, Miss Kuno, you did what all his rivals and challengers could not: you killed Ranma Saotome," Happosai said gravely, and every single word was like a thunderclap._

_"No! I don't want to believe it!" moaned Kodachi, shaking her head violently, "But why would Ranma-sama's father cry if it weren't true? Oh my Kami-sama, what have I done?"_

_Genma bristled, "I can tell you what you've done, Kuno, you killed my son! And I want retribution! I want-_"

_"Calm down, husband," Nodoka spoke up for the first time, "Honour has been done justice with Miss Kuno's admission. Ranma is dead and can rest in peace with his honour restored, yet we can not change that he is dead. Let sleeping dogs lie and let us concentrate on what is to come," she concluded meaningful and stroked her belly, a soft smile on her face._

_Genma looked from his wife to Kodachi, who was little more than a blubbering wreck, "But she-"_

_"Let it go, husband. The family honour has been preserved, the case is resolved. Nothing would change by unleashing your fury upon Miss Kuno. But Miss Kuno," Nodoka turned to face the girl, "it would be prudent for you not to show your face to any of us ever again. I am simply too content to demand your head seeing that I am pregnant, but my mood might change. Do you understand?"_

_Y-Yes," Kodachi replied absently, and the young woman stumbled out of the living room and onto the porch like a zombie._

_Moments later she was gone._

Happosai and Felicia watched with trepidation and waited for an explosion of temper as a myriad of emotions flashed across Ranma's face, the redhead visibly struggling to come to grips with what she'd just heard. Yet the explosion didn't come, which was not least thanks to a certain technique that had saved her life against Hydro-Man. The Soul of Ice.

Ranma's initial reaction, white-hot anger at Akane for having the gall to feel shocked and guilty, and utter fury at her mother for acting like she had, for once again putting honour before her and for discarding her like a tool that had outlived its usefulness, was ruthlessly suppressed courtesy of that which had so often aided her in the past.

Ranma took deliberate deep breaths to further regain her centre, ignorant of the clouds of vapour billowing from her mouth or Felicia's shivering as the redhead forced herself to concentrate on more immediate concerns than her mother, that being the source of all her suffering. Kodachi Kuno.

Ranma's eyes held an emptiness comparable to the vastness of space as she gazed at the blinds unseeingly, her mind going over everything that she'd gone through thanks to the wretched gymnast. A bitter chuckle tore itself from Ranma's throat, the noise sounding regretful and self-depreciating to equal parts.

"Kodachi Kuno… So it was her," Ranma finally muttered with that same far-away look as she gazed at the blinds still, "I always knew that lunatic would cause me no end of misery, but that she succeeded in pulling that one over me…"

"If it's any consolation, I underestimated her as well," mused Happosai, who was inwardly thanking the Gods that Ranma had never been one prone to explosions of temper which had ensured that her reaction had been comparably mild, "Her plan was well thought out and covered all the bases, and she pulled it off masterfully."

"That she did," commented Felicia, "But what about this Akane? What did she do after she found out Ranma was innocent?" the silver-haired woman asked almost on Ranma's behalf, feeling that the redhead mightn't be ready to ask the question.

Happosai sighed as he first looked at the curious Felicia and then at the stone-faced Ranma, "She went into a mild shock upon learning of Ranma's innocence, as I said, and I daresay she felt guilty, but her _boyfriend_," the old Grandmaster spat the word, "managed to console her with empty words pretty quickly. Told her that they couldn't have known, that all the evidence pointed against you, and that it wasn't her fault. It almost looked as if he wanted to say it was your fault for getting into the situation that led to events in the first place, Ranma, but he limited himself to saying that you could rest in peace now that your name was cleared," he explained with a look of disgust.

Ranma snorted in contempt, her eyes staring off into space for a few moments before the redhead shook her head, "Figures. Instead of admitting they were wrong they almost - almost! - try to lay the blame for all o' that shit on me. Can you believe that? How screwed up in the head are they?

"Yeah, Ranma, it's your own fault you were framed and died in a botched prison break. Nobody forced you to participate in the tournament, so take the blame already,´" the redhead drawled in a mocking tone that was a good imitation of Nabiki's drawl, only to growl in anger, "I'd to put up with that mindset for almost three years, hearing shouts of Ranma, it's all your fault!´ almost on a daily basis, but they'll find out how they like it once I start laying the blame," she concluded, a cold fire burning in her eyes.

Happosai shuddered briefly as thoughts of what Ranma's plans for revenge might entail crossed his mind, and he imperceptibly shook his head to shoo away the troubling thoughts his mind conjured, "Akane, naive girl that she is, bought that load of bull Ryoga fed her and cried into his chest for half an hour. It's a small wonder his curse wasn't triggered," the old man said disgustedly.

Ranma remained silent for a few moments with an unreadable look on her face, then, several moments later she looked up, her eyes icy cold. "So she felt guilty, eh? So she was shocked to find li'l ole me was no cold-blooded murderer, yeah? Well, she should've stopped to think for a few moments, they all should have.

"They fuckin' knew me for almost three years, and _she_ should have known better than to believe in evidence that could be faked with ease," she spat, her normally gleaming blue eyes darkening progressively, "Goes to show she never really knew nor loved me, the same as my mother. That waterworks Soun didn't cry a single tear doesn't surprise me, I'd lost all importance to him and his fuckin' joining of the thrice damned schools with my 'death'," she growled and made air-quotes, "But by the time I'm through with him his tears will flood the accursed Tendo-ke."

Ranma's cold words hung in the air for what seemed to be minutes, and both Felicia and Happosai almost felt bad for the targets of Ranma's revenge. "But it'll be incredibly hard to prove that this Kodachi framed you so that you can clear your name and begin your revenge, Ranma. It's hardly as if someone made a recording of her spilling her heart- Ranma?"

"Recording…" said the redhead, and her eyes gleamed of a sudden as she looked at Happosai, her spirits rising considerably as sudden hope bloomed, "Happi, did-"

"Nabiki record what Kodachi said? Certainly. I saw her stash her DAT-recorder after Kodachi had disappeared. I should've confiscated the tape right away," grumbled Happosai.

"You couldn't have known how important it'd turn out to be," mused Ranma and waved his half-apology away, "for you didn't know for sure if I was still alive or not. But how I'd love to get my hands on this tape. I bet Nabiki kept it."

"Hmmm," made Felicia as she pondered something.

"That's very probable," agreed Happosai, "If only to have a complete folder on you, from your arrival to Nerima to your demise."

"I think I may have a plan how we can get our hands on this tape," piped up Felicia, and a catty grin played on her face, "And it'd so play to my abilities."

"Err? What do you mean, 'licia?" Ranma asked after tilting her head, not noticing that she'd used a term of endearment.

Felicia whereas had, but chose to put it out of her mind for the time being, "Simple. I learn Japanese with SD's and your help, you'll teach me anything you know about the Tendo Dojo's interior and I'll travel to Nerima, Tokyo. Once there I'll obtain the tape, and anything else that might be incriminating," Felicia explained, her grin now shark-like.

"Clever," Ranma mused out loud and nodded slowly in appreciation, "With SD's camouflaging abilities and the Umi that might just work."

"Oi! What do you mean 'might'? It _will_ work! My plan is brilliant!" cried Felicia in mock-indignation.

"That it is," Ranma agreed with a disarming smile, "I'll just have to teach you the Umi to make the plan work. And SD will help you as well, ne?"

— _**That I will, —**_ affirmed SD in Felicia's mind, _**— And I agree, the plan is good. —**_

"SD said yes," Felicia confirmed, "and she said the plan is good."

"That's settled, then," Happosai commented, "Nabiki won't know what hit her!"

"Oh, she will, but not before I want her to know. And by then I'll have everything in place, and it'll be too late by then. For any of them. I don't care that they got pangs of remorse when they learned the truth, they showed their true colours to me. They'll wish they'd never thrown me away like a piece of trash when I'm through with them. Revenge will be mine," hissed Ranma, her eyes glittering with determination.

Her tone sent shivers up and down Felicia's and Happosai's spines, and Black Cat and Anything Goes master were glad that they were not on Ranma's black list.

-.-

Holding a new, steaming cup of cocoa in hands each Ranma, Felicia and Happosai lounged on Ranma's sofas. The redhead had just refilled their cups after getting herself a new one, and the three simply enjoyed the silence that had ensued after they'd finalised the details of their plan.

Felicia and Ranma were sitting very close together without actually seeming to notice, and Happosai bet that it wouldn't be more than a day tops until those two got together. They just made such a damn cute couple, and the thought of female Ranma passionately kissing Felicia was almost enough to make him erupt in a perverted burst of giggles.

His well-honed senses picking up on a change in Ranma's demeanour shook Happosai out of his fantasy and the old Grandmaster felt her look at him before he saw it, his dark eyes meeting Ranma's blue ones just as she placed her cup on the table after taking a gulp, "Yes, Ranma-chan?"

"Did my… Did Nodoka really not say more? No word of regret, nothing?" Ranma queried and tried to keep her voice uncaring and her face blank.

Happosai sighed inwardly as he regarded the seemingly aloof young redhead sitting before him, and wondered how she'd managed to stay as sane as she was. But then again, it was becoming more and more apparent that all that had happened to her, the Neko-ken, Jusenkyo, Nerima, and finally the devastating blow that had been the trial had done copious amounts of damage nonetheless. **'Yes, no one, not even the most impervious of beings could have gone through all this and emerge unscathed. Not even the pillar of emotional strength Ranma had always made herself out to be,'** the old Grandmaster reflected sadly.

Despite the tough exterior she was putting up just now, his experienced eyes saw right through the facade, and he knew for a fact that it'd probably be a long and hard road until Ranma would have worked through her issues, but at least she'd have the proper support to do so for a change, the old man mused.

One look at said support told Happosai that Felicia had sensed Ranma's inner turmoil just as easily despite the tough front she had put up, and the beginnings of a smile tugged at his lips when the silver-haired woman placed her cup on the table and carefully pulled the redhead close.

Happosai smiled a full-blown smile for a moment because of the touching scene, but his face grew solemn quickly as he prepared to answer the question. "Not a word, Ranma-chan. To her the matter was resolved once your name was cleared, and it's anyone's guess if she mourned at all. I really don't understand that woman."

Ranma just nodded almost numbly, the redhead being too emotionally drained to summon any measure of real anger, "Seeing her obsession with honour I can't say I'm surprised, really. I know I should probably be angry, hell, raving mad at her for treatin' me like that even in 'death', for putting the fuckin' honour before me yet again, but y'know what? It don't matter, 'cause she ain't my mother, has never been. Not back then, not now, not ever.

"No self-respecting mother woulda used her child as an end to whatever means she wanted to accomplish, neither would she have condemned them to that hell on earth that was Ryker's that easily without even tryin' to help, and hearin' how she reacted to my 'death' just cemented what I suspected even back then. I was nothing more than a tool to her while I was 'alive', a way to fulfil her dreams."

"Sad but true, Ranma-chan," sighed Happosai. "I'll never understand why she insisted on imposing that manliness shtick on you."

"Me neither. As Ranko she always treated me like the daughter she never had, but her son Ranma was only good for being manly all the time and banging a lot of girls. All in the name of manliness. Bah. I swear I'll never be like her, and should I ever have kids I'd rather kill myself than treat them the way she treated me," Ranma almost growled.

Felicia smiled and snaked her right arm around Ranma's waist, pulling the other girl closer, "There ain't no doubt in my mind that you'll be a damn good parent. Some day." she said, adding the last part quickly.

"Well said, on both accounts," spoke up Happosai, "Now to-"

"Oh damn," interrupted Felicia, and her sombre expression easily deterred Happosai from being peeved at having been interrupted, and Ranma looked up at her with a curious expression as well, "I just realised something. This woman, Nodoka, she's pregnant, right?

"Hoh man," she continued upon Happosai's nod, "I feel really bad for her 'new' kid. What with how you two described her… It's damn likely she'll try to raise the poor kid into a 'man among men' or a 'woman among women'."

"Damn, you're right," Ranma breathed as she realised that Nodoka would undoubtedly do exactly that, a fierce scowl adorning her face, "No brother or sister of mine must suffer this fate. I shall not allow it," she vowed from her comfortable position cuddled into Felicia.

"And I shall help!" Happosai and Felicia exclaimed in unison.

Ranma smiled suddenly, "So this is what having friends feels like. It's a good feeling," she concluded.

"You deserve friends, Ranma, you especially. And more," Felicia said and gave the younger woman a peck on the cheek.

"T-Thanks, 'licia," Ranma stuttered and absently touched her cheek, knowing full well that she had to be blushing all over, but having been emboldened by this show of affection the ex-Saotome scraped up her courage and voiced her thoughts, "Say, would you like to-"

"Go on a date with you tomorrow and cash in on the coffee you suggested before we met the Fantastic Four?" finished Felicia with sparkling eyes, and Ranma, who'd been almost gobsmacked that Felicia would suggest they go on a date, nodded shyly, "You read my mind. Yes, I'd love to," concluded the Black Cat happily.

"Good. I'm glad," Ranma breathed and smiled a brilliant smile at her partner, which faltered a bit when something occurred to her, "It doesn't have to be coffee, though. We can also grab ourselves something to eat, or-"

"Ssssh, Ranma," Felicia interrupted the jittery redhead and laid her hand on the younger woman's knee, "I'm certain we'll think of something."

Chuckling emanated from the bigger sofa which caused the women to look at Happosai, who was smiling at them, "I'll leave you two lovebirds to your own devices now," he said and drained his cup before getting to his feet, "I'll be back the day after tomorrow around the same time so we can finalise the details pertaining to Felicia's training, okay?"

"Okay," Ranma and Felicia answered in stereo, and the redhead made move to get to her feet.

"Don't bother leaving such a comfy and gorgeous cushion, Ranma-chan. I'll show myself out," said a grinning Happosai. "But don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Happi," growled out Ranma in irritation, but Felicia waved it away and shook her head in amusement.

"Leave him be, Ranma. Isn't it really much too comfy lying here with me to get up and hit him over the head?" she queried while playing with the redhead's hair.

"Mmmhh yeah," sighed Ranma contently, and her smile only grew when she heard Happosai disappear upstairs, a quick ki-check conducted ten seconds later revealing that he had indeed left the premises.

"Say, what are we, 'licia?" she asked suddenly and looked at the older woman with uncertainty in her eyes.

"Let's see… female, Caucasian, symbiote hosts. Heroes for hire," Felicia listed, all the while suppressing a smile. "Although the first two seem to be subject to change in your case."

"Not funny, 'licia. You know what I meant. Are we friends, or more?" asked Ranma, who tried to keep her face and voice neutral and herself from hoping too much.

"Or more, I'd say," Felicia said immediately in a completely serious voice and even stopped playing with Ranma's hair, "There's no doubt that I'm attracted to you, and strongly so."

Ranma breathed an audible sigh of relief, "I'm glad, 'cause I feel the same way," she said, most of her fears having been alleviated by Felicia's admission.

The older woman smiled softly, "And think, I only know your female form and am this attracted to you," she mused thoughtfully, and then the corners of her mouth twitched, "You know, I really began to question my sexual preferences when I began to see you this way," she admitted.

Ranma couldn't help but giggle, "I can see how that might've been confusing," she mused grinning.

"Hell yeah. Well, it wouldn't have been so bad in and on itself, but I had planned on having kids someday. It was SD who then reminded me of your 'dual genderdedness', as she put it, and if I like you this much in female form…" Felicia trailed off meaningfully.

"I hope so," said Ranma, and uncertainty tore at her heart, making her wish not for the first time her monthlies were already over, "But we won't know for sure for several days, at least."

Felicia nodded, then tilted her head, "Why the worry? Are you that different in male form?" she wanted to know.

"Not that I'm aware of. Sure, my brain 'n' hormones and all that stuff changes along with my gender, but I'm still me, just male," Ranma mused thoughtfully.

"Then we have nothing to fear," Felicia mused smilingly, "How about we swap stories now? You first!"

The redhead mock-glared at Felicia, "I was always crappy at these 'not-me'-games'," she sighed, "Okay. There was this one time I fought a dragon prince who was a princess half of the time…"

-.-

Ranma literally breezed through the following day, her mind almost exclusively focused on the upcoming date. Due to the fact that she had no tasks to perform, no missions to undertake or other tasks of importance to carry out she spent her day shopping for essentials like food and household articles, ate an early lunch and threw herself into training.

She had also implemented the plans she'd had for last night despite that it had gotten quite late. Felicia hadn't mentioned it directly, but the older woman had hinted at a restaurant visit at an as of yet undisclosed locality, and that might make it necessary for Ranma to present her ID card during the course of the date. An ID card she didn't possess.

A little nightly trip had taken care of the problem, and Mara Nicole Parker – who'd be revealed as a distant cousin to one Randall Parker, should anyone ever choose to investigate – would have no trouble to prove her identity if the need arose. The first names were obviously an anagram of Ranma, and Parker, well, she just liked the last name. That, and it'd make it so much easier to agree on a company name with Peter should she ever be able to put her plans into action.

Almost faster than she could blink it was 5 p.m., one hour before the date, and Ranma stopped training in favour of hitting the showers. One very refreshing shower later Ranma was standing in her birthday suit in front of the full body mirror hanging in the bedroom, the blinds carefully closed. A happy smile played on her face as she reminisced on yesterday's – and also today's – events.

Felicia and her had sat and talked about everything under the sun until late into the night, and they'd been so content in each other's presence it had been unreal. She knew they'd been a hairsbreadth away from their first real kiss and everything that might have happened from there on out, but they'd gotten a hold of themselves just in time.

Neither of them wanted to run off half-cocked and risk a roll in the hay just yet despite the apparent and strong attraction, despite the feelings that were growing between them, as both had been hurt too often and too deeply in the past.

Both Ranma and Felicia had agreed that their relationship had to grow from here on out, and both were adult and responsible enough to know that a lasting, stable and happy relationship couldn't be based on attraction alone.

Ranma smiled to herself as she regarded her reflection in the mirror. She'd already blow-dried her hair and braided it into a long ponytail, and for the first time in long she'd paid attention to the way she looked. Being in love – for that was what she admitted she was – did strange things to you, and she wanted to clean up particularly good for Felicia. **'Funny'**, she mused to herself, **'how my l-liking Felicia managed to get me out of my revenge-obsessed funk. But it feels right.'**

And it was true. Her revenge wasn't forgotten, not by a long shot, but it was as Felicia had said: there were other, more important things, like living and enjoying oneself, for example. And loving, by the look of things.

Still smiling to herself Ranma willed lingerie onto her body, a set of black lace panties complete with bra, and was then faced with the dilemma of what to wear. Skirts or dresses were out seeing that she still preferred pants, and always would. A woman she might be when she was a woman, but she was her own kind of woman and proud of that.

A devilish grin spread on her face as the perfect occasion wear came to mind, and Ranma snapped her fingers in glee, "That's it! I'm so gonna pay 'licia back tonight for that stunt she pulled, she's so gonna regret she ever teased me. Oh am I ever gonna make her hot 'n' bothered," she cackled, and closed her eyes.

Furrowing her brows in concentration Ranma created a mental picture of how she wanted to look, and Sym, who 'nodded' in approval, formed the clothes according to her host's wishes. Skin-tight black leather pants that accentuated Ranma's hips, butt and long legs formed, followed by a white, long-sleeved blouse that emphasised her curves, and finally black socks and knee-high black leather boots that disappeared up under the pants formed.

An anticipatory smile formed on her face before Ranma opened her eyes, and a low whistle escaped her upon seeing the results, "Damn, I look good," she breathed, her smile transforming into a catty grin. "Good work, Sym. Felicia won't know what hit her."

— _**I believe the correct term to describe your choice of clothing would be 'dressed to kill', Ranma, —**_ commented Sym, and to her the symbiote sounded definitely pleased with the work she had rendered.

"You can say that again, Sym. Good that Felicia has nine lives," she chuckled lightly. "You did damn good work, that's exactly how I pictured myself," she said as she twirled slowly. "I look gorgeous like that, but still, I can't wait to show myself to 'licia in my male form."

—_**Understandable. She is a desirable female, and you two do make a good match already, especially where your physical compatibility is concerned. With you in male form the compatibility rate is likely to only increase, —**_ Sym mused.

"I sure hope so," Ranma mused and pushed an errand strand of hair behind her left ear, "Well, it's twenty to six, and I'm ready. Woohoo. Felicia wanted to pick me up at a quarter to, so I still got five minutes. So, what to do?"

— _**I suggest you sit down in the living room and try to relax, Ranma. Your heart and pulse rates are both higher than usual, so try to get a grip on yourself. There is nothing to worry about, —**_ Sym said.

"Easy for you to say, Sym, but you're right, it can't hurt," Ranma retorted and walked out of the bedroom with a skip to her step after throwing one last, appreciative look at her reflection, "Sometimes you even have good ideas."

— _**My ideas are always good. It is just your execution of them that leaves much to be desired more often than not, —**_ retorted Sym in a superior tone.

"Oi! So not true!" Ranma shot back indignantly and plopped down on the smaller sofa, "I'll have you know-"

Ranma's retort died on her lips when her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, which prompted the redhead to get to her feet, "Now I forgot my brilliant retort, so I'll just say 'So not true.' and leave it at that," she exclaimed as she walked out of the living room towards the front door.

— _**A brilliant argumentative strategy, but I am afraid you will have to bring forward conclusive proof to back up your claim nonetheless,**_ — Sym retorted smugly.

Ranma, who was just throwing a glance through the spy hole stopped in irritation and scowled because of Sym's retort, but when she concentrated on the person standing in front of the door her expression lit up, "It's 'licia," she exclaimed happily and unconsciously raked a hand through her hair to make herself more presentable.

An involuntary smile appeared on her face as she opened the door, and her smile grew into a grin when she caught sight of Felicia. The other woman was visibly giving her an once-over, and an appreciative one at that.

The redhead laughed lightly when Felicia had still said nothing after half a minute, "Like what you see, 'licia?" she teased and posed, turning the tables on her (girl-)friend in revenge for yesterday.

The Black Cat, who was wearing black jeans, a black polo-neck jumper plus black boots nodded slowly, licking her apparently dry lips, "You- You look great, Ranma. Damn, I'll probably have to ward off men all night."

"Thanks," Ranma smiled, her heart beating a bit faster due to the fact that Felicia had sounded more than just a bit possessive just now, "Let me grab my coat and I'm ready to go."

Felicia nodded while her gaze travelled over Ranma's body as the redhead turned around and walked the few steps to the clothes tree and reached over to grab the black leather jacket she'd bought days ago, Ranma making sure that her blouse rode up her back as she leaned forward, a secret smile playing on her face. She knew from experience that she got what it took to flaunt it, and wasn't turn about fair play after all?

Turning back around after she'd donned her jacket Ranma was delighted to see the rosy blush on Felicia's face, and a small smile made its way on her face off its own accord when she overheard Felicia muttering about 'gotta find out where that tattoo of hers begins'. Grinning cattily Ranma grabbed her keys and locked the door. This date was going to be fun.

-.-

Ranma had no idea were they were going seeing that Felicia had been absolutely tight-lipped about it. The only thing she'd revealed was that they were going to a classic that was incidentally not more than a stone's throw away from her, Ranma's, flat.

When they finally arrived at 221 W. 57th St. a slow-paced ten minute walk later, Ranma finally caught sight of their destination, and the redhead nodded approvingly. A good choice indeed, that she had to give to Felicia. She had only heard of it, granted, but knew from gossip that the Hard Rock Café International was indeed a classic.

A smile involuntarily made its way on Ranma's face. She wholeheartedly approved of Felicia's choice, and the opportunity to eat her way through burgers, pommes frites and other assorted classic American style food made her mouth water.

This evening kept on getting better and better, the redhead found as they approached the restaurant. The walk to the Hard Rock Café had been spent in companionable silence with Felicia and her enjoying the clean evening air during the round about ten minutes it had taken them to reach the restaurant, and they'd exchanged affectionate glances on several occasions during the walk.

She almost giggled when she remembered that they'd apparently walked so close that it had caused the occasional raised brow from passers-by, but quite frankly, neither Felicia nor she had cared about the looks.

They entered the Hard Rock Café and after checking in their coats they quickly made their way to a table in the back Felicia had spotted. Once seated Ranma and Felicia talked for a few minutes until they were asked if they cared for anything to drink by a waiter who had come to their table, and both symbiote hosts ordered – much to the amusement of the other – coffee.

Once the waiter had disappeared both women leant back on the comfortable, cushioned benches they were sitting on, and Ranma let her gaze travel to take in more of the restaurants' interior.

She'd just finished admiring the American Rock memorabilia that were on display throughout the whole restaurant when the waiter returned with their orders. The dark-haired young man was easily balancing their coffees on a tray with his left hand, and it was hard not to notice that he was trying to catch her eyes.

Felicia had of course noticed as well, and the glare she shot the man was so intense that he couldn't help but notice, and it clearly conveyed the message 'Hands off. Mine!'. The waiter was visibly gobsmacked for a few moments but quickly returned to his professional countenance and served them efficiently and quickly. After receiving a 'Thanks,' – a rather forced one on Felicia's part – from the women the man returned to his duties.

Ranma, having been wised up to the world and having long since lost her former naivety due to the experiences she'd made had noticed the hidden messages that had passed between Felicia and the waiter, and even though a small part of her rebelled against the idea, the majority of her was feeling almost giddy that Felicia had laid claim on her.

Smiling she took her steaming hot cup by the handle and blew on it, then she raised it to her lips in a toast, "You chose a great location, 'licia, and I love being here with you. I'm sure this is going to be a wonderful evening," she said with sparkling eyes and sipped her coffee slowly.

"It's wonderful being here with you, Mara," Felicia replied, who had to consciously remind herself to call Ranma 'Mara' in public, "I hope you'll enjoy this evening as much as I already do," she concluded and mirrored Ranma's actions, carefully sipping the hot liquid from her own cup.

Ranma's answering smile was even more brilliant, and the discreet background music faded even more into the background for the two women as they just stared at each other, mesmerised by their counterpart. Finally they began to converse, and from then on out a light-hearted conversation developed that was only briefly interrupted when a waitress came to their table fifteen minutes later and asked them if they had already chosen.

Felicia and Ranma had not, in fact, yet they managed to cover up this remissness by ordering today's special. Their conversation resumed full swing after this interruption, but both were careful to avoid stodgy topics so as not to endanger the success of this romantic evening and rather opted to enjoy the jolts and feelings of having butterflies in their stomachs simply looking at each other evoked.

The meal, a large burger, pommes frites, salad and a large coke for each, was served twenty minutes later, and during its course the heroes for hire found more evidence pointing to the conclusion that they were indeed tuned to the same wavelength; they were similar enough to have common ground to start from, yet different enough so as to not end up in a boring relationship outside their super-hero activities.

Especially Ranma, who'd been careful and circumspect in spite of her infatuation with Felicia where her expectations were concerned found that she simply had no choice but to screw up her courage and jump in at the deep end the longer the evening lasted.

Felicia was so carefree, understanding and surprisingly deep, not to mention funny, caring and committing that she'd been taken by storm. It was surprising, but Felicia combined all the elements she would have wished for in her partner.

Sometimes, she remembered, it required taking the risk to be hurt – again – to start something wonderful. In the past she had taken risks without thinking about the dangers and potential consequences involved, had charged into dangerous situations and right back out again with the pot of gold or the silver ring or whatever token of success it happened to be.

The... incident and her time in jail had changed her, had made her a lot more cautious and tentative, but now it seemed as if she would have to revive some of her old bravery, for her gut-feeling kept on screaming at her that she'd be stupid not to seize her chance with both hands, that this could turn into something wonderful indeed.

Squashing her fears and straightening herself inwardly Mara Nicole Parker, former Ronin Ranko a.k.a. Ranma Saotome, made the conscious decision to commit herself fully to forming a relationship with Felicia Hardy.

-.-

From then on out, once Ranma had made her decision the dinner had been a success across the board. It would've taken a completely insensate – read: dead – person to not notice the sparks literally flying between Ranma and Felicia, and when the older woman suggested going to a movie after eating up Ranma had been all for it.

After tasting some silky red wine – Ranma's first willing experience with alcohol ever – and getting a bit tipsy – Sym simply failed to neutralise the alcohol due to the fact that lowered inhibitions might lead to better results – Ranma had then briefly excused herself to visit the restrooms to freshen up.

Now, after grabbing her coat from the checkroom she was walking back to their table, all the while studiously ignoring the admiring – and in some cases leering – looks thrown her way. A frown made its way on her face, though, once their table was within her sight, for Felicia was just paying the bill, and that irked the redhead.

Not only was it wrong because she'd – also – be the man in the relationship as soon as she'd be able to change back, no, right now she was a woman, and one able to pay her own bills to boot. Frowning she waited for Felicia to pay, and sensing her partners' mood the Black Cat got a wriggle on and was at her side a minute later, a questioning look on her face.

Ranma didn't speak up though and wordlessly turned around, expecting Felicia to follow. That a perplexed Black Cat did, and still asking herself what she'd done to incur Ranma's wrath Felicia retrieved her coat, donned it and followed Ranma.

The redhead had meanwhile reached the exit and walked out – uncaring that the patrons were watching Felicia and her with interest – and once she'd stepped outside as well the older woman saw that Ranma had turned around to glare at her, hands on her hips.

While the pose looked definitely alluring Felicia was at present more interested in unravelling what it was that had put the younger woman's panties in a bunch, though. "Mara, what's wrong? I thought we were ready to leave the restaurant, that's why I paid and-"

"Exactly._You _paid," interrupted the redhead, scowling, "I ain't some wallflower of a girl who can't pay for what she's ordered, Felicia."

Felicia was taken aback for a moment until she reminded herself of the special circumstances surrounding Ranma, her friends' momentary biological phase in particular. Telling Ranma she was overreacting and way out of line would be akin to adding more fuel to the fire, in other words, completely counterproductive.

True to the wisdom of the old saying 'the cleverer give in' and with patience gained from experience Felicia nodded her head. "I understand, and I meant nothing by it, Mara, I just wanted to pay so we can continue to enjoy this wonderful evening," she said soothingly, but Ranma didn't look convinced, "Mara, I would never imply that you're nothing but strong, independent and gorgeous," she added, her smile growing impish towards the end, "Forgive me? Pretty please?" she asked with her best puppy-dog eyes.

In spite of herself, Ranma had to smile, "Oh, I don't know," she retorted, and pretended to be thinking hard before her expression lit up, "Okay."

"I'm glad," the Black Cat smiled softly, "Now how about I lead us to a cinema?" she asked and held out her hand.

Ranma stepped closer to her partner and accepted the offered appendage, a smile spreading on her face due to the brief jolt grasping Felicia's hand had caused, "Please do. But _I _will pay for popcorn and drinks, got it?"

"Oh yeah, got it," Felicia replied, the Black Cat not seeing the logic in risking another diplomatic crisis by trying to talk Ranma out of it and made a beeline for the closest cinema instead. It was better and much less of a headache to let sleeping dogs lie.

-.-

They arrived at the AMC Empire 25 still holding hands, and it had been – and still was – feeling absolutely natural to them. Ranma and Felicia didn't care in the slightest about the odd looks they provoked, and both had just looked at each other before entering the movie theatre, silently communicating that neither wanted to let go just to conform to society's expectations. Expectations they wouldn't be able to meet half of the time anyway.

It was thus that they entered the lobby of the AMC Empire 25 with their heads held high, both literally basking in the feelings they'd come to share. Not caring about the occasional looks and glances they unsurprisingly received here as well Ranma and Felicia took the time to chose a movie and got in line.

Shortly after buying their tickets from a bored young man Ranma let go of Felicia's hand, which elicited a frown on the older woman's part, but when she saw where Ranma was headed a smile appeared on her face, "Red and her appetite… wonder what she'd look like without Sym. I'd probably have to roll her around," she chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.

Little later an impishly smiling Ranma laden with popcorn and two cokes returned, and smiling at her de-facto girlfriend in affectionate amusement Felicia accepted her coke. Then she took the younger woman's unresisting hand, and the Black Cat quickly led them to their cinema hall and straight up to the uppermost row.

Due to the fact that the movie they'd chosen was in its fourth week the hall was relatively empty, and as Felicia and Ranma made themselves at home it seemed that they'd have the whole row just to themselves.

Ranma placed the large cup filled to the brim with popcorn on the ground, and the two started munching away on the snack immediately. Their hands met on more than one occasion, and each time that it happened they shared a look and smiled affectionately.

When the commercials begun five minutes later and still no one had entered their row they even started to feed popcorn to each other, cheeks almost fully pressed against the others and big smiles on their faces.

Then the movie started, and at first Ranma tried to keep her attention focussed on the movie so as to find out what the story was about, but a warm hand that was suddenly on her left knee dissolved her resolve rather effectively.

The redhead froze for a moment at Felicia's boldness, then a smile made its way on her face and she took Felicia's hand in her own, giving it a soft kiss. Looking up showed her the equally smiling face of her partner, and sighing contently Ranma inched closer to the older woman.

It wasn't long until they became lost in each others eyes, and then, all of a sudden, their lips seemed to meet of their own accord, uniting Felicia Hardy and Mara N. Parker, former Ronin Ranko, in a passionate kiss. It was their first, but definitely not the last, if the fireworks that seemed to go off behind each woman's eyes were any indication. The last coherent thought Ranma had before totally giving in to the bliss she was feeling was just how good it'd feel to kiss Felicia while a man, and for Ranma that couldn't happen soon enough...

**to be continued**…

Changes in v.2: cleaned up some minor errors and fixed the formatting in places. Followed Kokuyo's suggestion pertaining to the flashback section; thanks for that, as well as to all of those among you who helped point out mistakes.

oOo  
**  
**Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general, which is always appreciated.  
Many thanks to those who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):

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oOo

**Quick notes section:**

No idea really where the 'date day' and everything that happened there came from, it just seemed to write itself. Blame it on my muse running rampant or something, but looking back on it I gotta say I like how it turned out, especially the teasing that went on between Ranma and Felicia. But as expressed herein, I'm really looking forward to when male Ranma and Felicia will 'meet' for the first time. Sorry for taking so long on that account, but that's just the way it played out…

On another note, I got the distinct impression that some of my readers - if not the majority - were less than pleased with the way the last chapter ended. Some even called it 'bull', but honest, who'd have read a chapter with over 30 k words? For that's what Chs. 11 and 12 weigh combined.

Then there's the fact that Chapter 12 wasn't even halfway done by the time Chapter 11 was ready for posting, and I didn't want to procrasti… err, wait any longer – or make a longer Chapter 11 – seeing that I'd taken my sweet time already. Hope that adequately explains why I left off in a li'l cliffie last time.

- the Nerima revelations: I'm well aware that some readers will be dissatisfied with how little was actually shown of Nerima and the Neriman's reactions, but as hinted at, Felicia will pay Nerima a visit, and more will be revealed. I decided upon this approach for several reasons:  
A) a fellow author, Tai Khan, was quite correct in his assessment that I'd simply waited too long in disclosing what'd been going on in Chaos Central, and due to the fact that I didn't want to resort to Interludes that'd deter from the story I used flashbacks instead. I'm not too happy with how that turned out, but that happens if you make mistakes in the planning stages. I just focussed on the going ons in New York too much...  
B) we'll soon dive headlong into the Clone Saga, and things will be heating up with the appearance of enemies old and new.

- Ranma's name: I decided upon Mara Nicole Parker for above mentioned reasons. That, and I like the names.

- Genma: his behaviour may come as a surprise to some, if not many, but I discussed it at length with others way back and came to the conclusion that he'd most likely act this way due to mentioned reasons. Personally, I like it way better than him sticking with the 'believers'.

- Ranma's and Felicia's relationship: is developing awfully fast, yeah, but that's what can happen where love at first sight is involved. Speaking from experience here, folks.

- Spidey: will be back next chapter, as will MJ, and there'll be revelations as to the instigator of Ranma's cloning as well. Things are slowly heating up, yeah!

That concludes the comments section. The review answers can be found at my group, as usual.


	13. Courage of a Parker

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 13: Courage of a Parker**

Ranma awoke to an annoying buzzing sound that just didn't want to go away, regardless of how hard she pressed her head into the cushions. Growling in irritation due to the fact that the sound persisted she was finally forced to open her eyes and about to curse the idiots that dared disturb her in the wee hours of the day when the fact occurred to her that it was bright outside. Way too bright. Frowning to herself she took a look at her wrist-watch, which read 9:05 a.m.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed with wide eyes and literally jumped out of bed, "Five past nine already! That means 'licia must be trying to wake me up for minutes now! Fuck!"

In a blind panic Ranma ran down the corridor and to the entrance door, unawares that Sym, in a mischievous mood, reformed her red and white PJs into a peek-a-boo nightgown that left very little to the imagination until she had already opened the door.

"Red, overslept, have-" Felicia greeted her with a teasing smile, only to interrupt herself when she noticed what Ranma was wearing, "Wow, you really are a girl when you're a girl, huh?" she commented in amusement and let an appreciative gaze wander over the redhead's well-toned body.

Ranma grumbled something unintelligible in reply, yet she was secretly pleased that Felicia obviously liked what she saw, "Come on in, 'licia. I'll follow you in a few, just have to set a certain someone straight first."

Felicia nodded and walked past Ranma who closed the door, and a scowl appearing on her face the redhead's attention focussed inwards, "Sym! What the hell is the meaning of this!" she demanded verbally, and Felicia, who was half-way to the kitchen already, stopped cold, opting to listen in into the albeit one-sided conversation.

**'What's Sym done that Ranma's yelling at her like that?'** Felicia mused to herself.

— _**If I am to venture a guess, my mother was likely responsible for Ranma's choice of clothing. Ranma would hardly ever wear something like the nightgown as it would be too girly in her mind, **__**—**_ SD spoke up.

**'Yes, springing something like that on Ranma would most certainly do it,'** Felicia replied amusedly, **'Thanks, SD.'**

— _**You are welcome, **__**—**_ replied the symbiote.

While SD had – quite accurately – drawn her conclusions and informed her host of said same-self conclusions an annoyed Ranma, hands planted on her hips, was still waiting for a reply from her symbiote, who didn't really understand her hosts' irritation.

— _**I felt Felicia would appreciate a more… revealing choice of wardrobe on your part. Her reaction proved me correct, did it not? **__**—**_ Sym explained her actions in a tone that only underlined her 'the ends justify the means approach' yet again.

"Yes, but her reaction's not up to discussion here, Sym! This is!" hissed a peeved Ranma and pointed down at herself, "You changed my clothes into something more revealing without my consent!"

— _**I fail to see the problem as I would never dream to take this course of action outside of a private setting, and I would never do it for anyone but your mate unless you asked me to, **__**—**_ Sym retorted calmly.

"The problem is that you failed to ask me beforehand if it was okay, Sym," Ranma said, her facial expression softening a bit, "I understand why you did what you did, but please, ask me next time."

— _**I can agree to that, Ranma, **__**—**_ Sym replied and fell silent.

Ranma shook her head in silent bemusement, "Only me, I swear," she said and made her way to the kitchen – into which Felicia had secretly and soft-footed disappeared as soon as the one-sided conversation had come to its conclusion – and found her friend standing in front of the coffee machine making herself a coffee.

"Good morning, 'licia, and sorry 'bout that," she said with a sigh, but her expression brightened immediately when the Black Cat turned around and looked at her with a smile.

"Good morning to you too, sleepyhead," Felicia chirped and enveloped the younger woman in a hug, "And there's nothing to be sorry about."

Incidentally both women reclined their heads at the same time, and after looking at each other in surprise at the fact that both had apparently had the same thought they shared a smile and then leant in for a brief, but passionate kiss.

Reclining her head yet again Ranma smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Yeah, I overslept alright. Got pretty late last night as you well know, and I didn't hear the stupid alarm clock. And Sym failed to wake me as well, though I'm certain that was part of her plan," she grumbled.

"What, to have you open the door in the nightie?" Felicia queried smilingly with a nod at Ranma's attire, which the redhead had, interestingly, still not changed.

"Yeah. Did it work?" Ranma asked impishly and batted her lashes teasingly.

Instead of answering Felicia leant forward and pulled the other woman into a passionate embrace, dropping a scorching kiss on her lips as she pressed the younger woman against her body.

"Wow. I take that as a yes," Ranma said breathlessly after they had come up for air, her smile making her blue eyes sparkle, "I always wanted to ask the girl I really like the following question, and now I'm asking you: do you want to be my girlfriend, 'licia?"

"I thought I already was after last night," Felicia replied, and a small frown crinkled her forehead, "Say, you just said 'like'. Didn't you mean 'love'?"

Ranma, still in that warm embrace, leant backwards to look Felicia in the eyes, "I'm not sure I know what love is, 'licia," she said sadly, her blue eyes expressing the depth of her sorrow.

"Oh Ranma," Felicia sighed and hugged the younger woman to her anew, her previous misgivings vanishing into thin air.

Ranma let herself be hugged, gladly so, and enjoyed it verily when Felicia started playing with her hair, but a sad sigh escaped her despite the pleasant sensation, "I mean, I know I like you, and lots, and I feel all tingly when I just look at you. I feel like I've known you forever, like you're the missing piece that completes me. But is that love?"

Felicia, whose heart had started beating ever faster throughout Ranma's monologue, stared at the redhead with love-filled and relieved eyes, tears brimming in the corners of said verdant orbs, "If that ain't love then I don't know either, Ranma, 'cause I feel the same," she breathed and leant in, "And now kiss me."

That Ranma needn't be told twice.

-.-

Fifteen minutes later Ranma and Felicia were seated at the kitchen table. While the redhead had showered and generally conducted her morning routine the Black Cat had prepared breakfast from what the fridge had had to offer and had set the table.

Privately Felicia had found it very easy to find her way in Ranma's kitchen, and while she'd worked she'd mused to herself that her streak of bad luck seemed to be over. Although she'd yet to experience it, to have fallen for someone who could be your boyfriend one moment and your girlfriend the next brought numerous advantages, for who could claim to have a partner who intimately knew how the other side lived and who could really understand how you felt and why? Next to no one.

Returning her thoughts to the present Felicia took a bite from the buttered croissant she had been holding and looked at her girlfriend, whose blue eyes were gazing at her with apparent curiosity and wonder.

"What are you looking at, Red?" Felicia asked when Ranma hadn't stopped gazing at her dreamily a minute later, "Got something on my face?"

"No, no, 'licia. It's just… I find it hard to believe my luck," Ranma said, incidentally echoing Felicia's thoughts from earlier, "I mean, I've found a wonderful woman who accepts me as I am, without even really knowing my male half to boot!" she added and raked a hand through her hair, "Had someone told me something like this would happen to me seven months ago I'd have laughed in their faces and called them a fool.

"That's why I'm afraid, 'licia. I'm afraid I'll suddenly wake up in my cell to find it was all a dream, too good to be true," Ranma finished in a small voice that clearly conveyed her fears.

Ranma's tone and visibly anxiety tore at Felicia's heart, and in a flash she had gotten up from her chair and was standing beside the redhead sitting on her wooden bench. Motioning for Ranma to move over Felicia plopped down and immediately pulled the younger woman to her with both arms, engulfing her in a hug.

"Ranma, I promise this is not a dream," she said in a soothing tone and stroked the right side of Ranma's face and head, "If this were a dream you'd surely wake up if I did this," she mused impishly and sharply squeezedthe redhead's rear with her right hand, eliciting a weak glare from the younger woman, "wouldn't you? You're still here, I'm still here. Conclusion: no dream, but reality. And I'll do everything in my power to make it a permanent one, 'cause I have fallen for you. Hard."

Deeply moved but searching blue eyes looked up into Felicia's serious and honest face, and before the platinum blonde could even blink Ranma had twisted her body and dropped a passionate kiss on her mouth as soon as she'd found what she'd been looking for. As passionate as the kiss was, as brief it was, and an emotionally recovered Ranma whispered a heartfelt "Thanks," before leaning back into Felicia, muttering, "I hate it when I go to pieces like that, stupid monthlies," to herself.

"You're very welcome, honey," replied a softly smiling Felicia and voluntarily used a pet-name before kissing the top of Ranma's head, who regarded her with a surprised but pleased expression, "But you needn't be afraid to show your emotions. You don't have to pretend that everything's okay when it's not. I know you, very intimately so thanks to SD, so you don't have to pretend that you're the tough macho guy or girl that isn't fazed by anything.

"You're only human, and as much as us humans may wish it weren't so, we're prone to experiencing strong and confusing emotions. But instead of suppressing them you should express them, make them known to me. Feeling and showing emotions is what makes us human, and it's also what makes us love each other," Felicia concluded and squeezed Ranma's hand.

A visibly moved Ranma looked Felicia straight in the eyes and nodded seriously, "I'll try, 'licia, but I can't promise you anything. I've been taught to suppress my emotions all my life, but it's getting better lately," she said and leaned forward, kissing the silver-haired woman's forehead.

"That's all I ask, hon, that's all I ask," a smiling Felicia replied, leaning her head against the redhead's.

-.-

**Present time, Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane**

Sara Deel was seemingly doing what she did on any other day in the Ravencroft Institute, but as most often in life, appearances are deceitful.

To the outside world the pallid woman calling herself Shriek was doing nothing more than sitting Indian style on the floor of her cell, apparently lost to the world. But inside her mind the wheels were turning with fervour, not even leaving Shriek with the time to scoff at Dr. Kafka's ill-placed and futile devotion to healing people like her. Usually she'd also have loudly cursed about the straightjacket obstructing her movements by now, but she'd other things on her mind.

**'Stupid jacket– as if that ruddy piece of clothing could ever hope to stop me,'** Shriek thought with a derisive snort. Truth be told, she could have broken out of the institution at any given time seeing that the goody-two-shoes personnel had done nothing to suppress her powers, but there hadn't been a reason to up till now. **'Feh, those idiots'll never catch on that all my complaining's just show. Fools, the lot of them,' **she thought as she sorted her thoughts.

True, her hands _were _the focus for her sonic powers, and said hands were indeed bound by the stupid jacket, but what those cretins didn't know was that her control over sonics was so great that she could have dissolved the material without harming herself at any given time.

But what for? She had no allies out there, no like-minded villains who wanted to show the world that it'd truly strife on chaos and destruction, that it'd bloom and become one big family once it had shaken off the yoke of rules society had imposed on it.

More important, she'd always known that the one destined to bring about the chaos would take her with him on his crusade, but nothing had happened. And that changed everything, which was why things were different today. The time for waiting was finally over. It was time to make her stand.

"Things that were destined to happen did not," Shriek muttered to herself, and smoothly got to her feet, "The course of destiny was changed, my promised family denied. I'll avenge them, and build an even better one."

Her left eye, noticeably adorned by a large diamond-shaped black mark, glowed an eerie yellow with power as Shriek commanded her powers to tear apart the straightjacket, and once the said jacket had crumbled to the ground moments later, utterly torn to pieces by her powers, the raven-haired woman turned her sights on the cell-door. A malicious grin formed on her face as Shriek focussed her powers in her right hand, then the dark-eyed woman aimed her yellow glowing fists at the door and an instant later a yellow blast of concussive sonic energy leapt at the door.

Insane laughter spilled from Shriek's lips as the heavy door was cleanly blown off its hinges and into the opposite wall, and sporting a demented grin on her face Shriek strode out of the cell that had been her 'home' for so long.

-.-

Stepping out into the hallway Shriek's insane grin only grew, the blaring alarm being music to her ears. Alarm meant people trying to subdue her, and that plus her powers meant chaos and slaughter. The pallid woman smiled a cruel smile at the thought, and the hurried footsteps she could hear in the distance a few seconds later which likely represented the Asylum's attempts at containing the outbreak they'd detected amused her. Insane laughter escaped her as three orderlies packing the full equipment including dart guns with heavy tranqs came into her line of sight, and without stopping her laughter Shriek launched sonic blasts of devastating force at the unfortunate men without warning.

The orderlies didn't have time to do more than utter death screams as they were torn apart by the blasts' destructive energy, and Shriek, who hadn't stopped laughing, blew imaginary smoke from her right index finger. "May you rest in pieces, fools," she commented derisively, "No one stands between me and my promised family. No one."

"Fools indeed," a gravely voice commented from the adjacent cell to her left, and upon turning her face Shriek was surprised to glimpse the monstrous visage of a villain she'd only heard about, "But even the fools running this institution might prove to be your undoing due to the ruckus you caused. We can hear more footsteps in the distance, and these minions will be armoured guards. Free us, and we'll help you."

"Venom," Shriek breathed, her expression turning pondering as she gazed upon her fellow inmate whose face seemed to be contorted in a perpetual predatory grin, "They're indeed drawing nearer, and I might just exhaust myself trying to blast all 'em fools into oblivion. Aww, what the heck..." she shrugged, her left eye glowing once more before a strong concussive blast of pure sonic energy hit the cell door; it didn't take long for her powers to blast away the door, yet overwhelming the sonic containment field that had ensured Venom 'enjoyed' Ravencroft's continued hospitality took almost as long as it took the indeed armoured guards, ten men in total, to arrive.

Shriek, who was a bit winded from her efforts and was taking a few deep breaths to speed up her recovery, just had time to blink as the freed Venom blurred to in front of her, and the symbiote-clad man had already picked up the heavy cell-door and had thrown it at the approaching guards when her brows had finished executing a perfect Spock manoeuvre. By the time she saw the results of the throw a pleased grin split her face. "Maybe it was the right decision to free him," she muttered to herself as she watched Eddie Brock snarl at the guards.

"Damn it, Enrico's nearly been crushed! Weren't it for his armour-" one guard exclaimed, but was interrupted by another.

"We're in deep shit, Paul! She's freed Venom!"

"You're in deep shit indeed, pesky insect," Venom agreed with a manic grin that showed off his sharp teeth, and the webbing fired from both hands nailed the guards that had spoken to opposite walls before they could act in any way or form, "You tried to cure us of our 'unhealthy obsession with killing a certain spider', tried to drug us, bedazzle our senses, tried to make us forget. All it did was make us angry. Want to know something?" he asked almost pleasantly.

"Uhh, no?" one of the braver guards ventured.

Venom's toothy grin only seemed to grow, "Too bad, we'll tell you anyway," he replied and brought his body into an offensive stance, "You won't like us angry!" he snarled and blurred forward.

Little later pained screams reverberated off the walls of Ravencroft's hallways, marking the begin of Venom's and Shriek's escape from the institute's hospitality.

-.-

Ten minutes later found the two villains swinging high above New York's skyline, Shriek held securely in Venom's massive arms.

"You kept word," Shriek said, sounding pleasantly surprised, "And here I thought you were just a big softie. What a pleasant surprise."

"We never were soft, and whoever stands between us and our goals shall pay the ultimate price," Venom scoffed back, "We'll set you down in that alley-"

Venom trailed off as he caught sight of a red-and-blue-clothed individual he could barely make out swinging towards an alley ahead of them, and the symbiote-clad man yelled out, "Spider-Man!" in utter hate.

Shriek grinned to herself as Venom changed course to catch up to the arachnid hero, her mind singing with glee at the impending bloodshed. The villainess held on tight as Venom landed on the ground with a thud, and she could feel the anticipatory grin on the masked man's face, "We believe there's a certain pest in that alley, so let's go exterminate it!"

Venom left Shriek behind and jumped forward into the alley the other webslinger had disappeared into, but the symbiote-clad man felt right away in the back of his mind that something was wrong. The loud, feral growl uttered by something that was definitely not human caused him to look up, and Venom regarded the creature that was about to attack him in confusion. The costume the... thing was wearing was the only attribute that reminded of Spider-Man, everything else from the facetted set of eyes, the six arms equipped with three sets of talons each plus the two-taloned feet, two rows of razor-sharp looking pointy teeth to the apparent mindlessness of the creature was radically different.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Venom, but this is definitely not Spider-Man!" Sandra Deel exclaimed from behind.

"Our mistake," Venom retorted with a minute shrug, and his right fist lashed out in a lightning-quick punch that met the creature's chin with a sickening crunch, the force of the blow sending the beast crashing into the wall it had jumped down from hard, "Just how many web-swingers aside from our hated foe and us are there anyway?" he grumbled in annoyance.

The spidery creature had recovered in the meantime and jumped forward in another attempt at skewering Venom, but the self-proclaimed 'lethal protector' was way faster and nipped said attempt in the bud with a full salvo of webbing that threw the mindless beast backwards against the same-self housewall that had already suffered much abuse, trapping it. Venom shook his head in contemplation as he slowly approached the snarling beast, "We remember having heard some rumours about a pack of evil duplicates from outer space, but dismissed them as nonsense at the time. Seems there was truth to them after all."

"You mean this is Spider-Man's doppelganger?" inquired Shriek, her expression contemplative.

Venom's eyes narrowed at the Doppelganger, and he reared back his fist, "That's right, and we can't allow this creature to harm any more innocents. Besides, it's a good enough ersatz for Spider-Man to practise on. Now prepare to die, insect!"

"Don't!" Shriek yelled out, and a strong blast of sonic energy leapt from her hands, hitting the part of the wall to Venom's immediate right, blasting large chunks of stone out of it that rained to the ground.

The blast had been strong enough to make his symbiote cringe, and his surprise was evident when he exclaimed, "That sonic blast! We didn't know you could make it that strong!"

"Every woman likes to keep a few secrets, oh toxic one," Shriek replied nonchalantly, her right hand still smoking a little, "And that's not all I want to keep," she added, placing her left hand on top of the kneeling Doppelganger's head, the beast having managed to free itself in the meantime using its razor-sharp claws.

Venom regarded the growling beastly copy of his arch-nemesis coolly, and shrugged, "We agree if you keep it on a leash. It might even prove to be useful in ridding us of that pest Spider-Man. But on second thought, we think we won't take that chance and will attend to matters personally," Venom mused.

"Whatever makes your day, Venom," replied Shriek with a shrug.

"Slowly squeezing the life out of a certain wall-crawler most certainly will," Venom retorted with a manic grin, "Oh, and if you want to avoid a one-way-ticket to Ravencroft we suggest you lay low and gather allies. That poor copy of my hated nemesis seems hardly above a cheeseburger in intellect," Eddie Brock remarked and casually backhanded the attacking beast into a wall, "Which means you'll need more manpower."

The snarling Doppelganger got to its feet with a hiss and was about to jump at Venom, but Shriek held up her hand, stopping the beast in its tracks. The pallid woman rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she thought things through, and almost a minute later she nodded at Venom. "Point taken. I assume you don't plan on joining my merry li'l group seeing as your primary objective is to kill Spider-Man," she mused, getting a nod from the lethal protector, "So I'll have to find likeminded people next. Thanks anyway, it was fun. Adios," she exclaimed and fired a sonic blast at the ground that propelled her high into the air. The Doppelganger growled one last time at Venom, then the creature turned around and fired its webbing, following its mistress suit.

Venom looked after the pair for a few moments and shook his head, muttering "Crazy bitch, but she could make things interesting," before taking to New York's skyline as well.

-.-

**Meanwhile at the Parker's flat**

"Trust me, it's the perfect way to begin the day," Mary Jane's soft alto voice said from the kitchen, her tone holding the breast-note of utter conviction.

Peter, who was currently standing in the hallway reached forward to retrieve his jacket from the clothes tree, and replied, "Indian take out for breakfast is hardly what I had in mind in that regard!" with both brows raised into the hairline.

"A lady has to have her priorities, mister, and Indian food currently tops that list!" Mary Jane retorted and joined Peter in the hallway, giving her husband a quick peck on the cheek.

Peter smiled, while thinking to himself, **'If I didn't know better I'd think... naw. Too far-fetched.'**

He was half-way out of the door when his wife's voice floated over to him, "And try to remember the dip this time!"

"Will do, hon!" Peter called back and blew his wife a kiss.

A five minute walk later Peter was approaching the Indian restaurant where he'd preordered, deep in thought. **'MJ was right. We both need to kick back from the strain of the past few weeks... and the shock of Harry's sudden death. Yeah, some serious R&R's in order.'**

Shaking himself out of these thoughts Peter entered the restaurant, and upon noticing that he was apparently the only customer at this early an hour he asked, "You have an order for Parker?" while listening to the radio with half an ear.

_"Over ten are estimated dead!"_

"Extra dip, right?" the dark-skinned restauranteer asked.

"Yeah, that's us," Peter responded, while thinking, **'Sounds like trouble on the radio.'**

_"The authorities have disclosed few details of the massacre which has claimed the lives of most of the security staff at the Ravencroft Institute!"_ the radio blared on.

Peter paled, **'Ravencroft? But that's where Reed said... Oh god!'**

"You're all set, mister!" the restauranteer said, his back turned, "I've even included an extra sample package of a very tasty dip for your lovely... bride?" he trailed off confused, seeing that Peter was gone.

Said Parker was already a good distance away sprinting down a seldom used alley he knew, his thoughts running a mile a minute, **'I've tried to keep tabs on Brock ever since the cops carted him off after Scarlet Widow kicked his ass. Some doctor recently caused a minor jurisdictional flap between the state and the feds when she requested his transfer to Ravencroft. Reed said something about her wanting to cure him of his obsession with killing me. Goes to show how much use that was. If Brock's behind this...'**

**'Who'm I kidding?'** he thought darkly as he jumped upwards, using a fire ladder as means to catapult himself upwards, **'It's gotta be him. Somehow their high tech stuff failed and he managed to break out. Ain't the first time, and probably won't be the last time either,'** he concluded grimly as he landed in a low crouch on the flat rooftop of the building.

**'It's all so damn frustrating,'** Peter grumbled mentally as he pulled off his jacket and shirt, revealing the Spider-Man costume underneath, **'Every enemy I've ever fought seems to return at some point or another- no matter how decisively I beat them! They always come back for more!'**

Pulling up the mask now that he had freed himself from the jeans Peter enclosed his clothes in a protective cocoon of webbing and attached it to a nearby chimney, then he jumped off the building, performing several somersaults in rapid succession before firing his webbing, **'It's like I'm destined to keep fighting them over and over again! I'll never see the last of them!**

**'Except for Harry,'** he added glumly, **'I wonder if Scarlet Widow's right-'**

Suddenly Peter's spider-sense blared, and he instinctively threw himself to the side, just in time to escape a yellow blast of energy that cut his webbing in half instead of him, **'Whew! Someone was pretty close to having himself an order of fried wallcrawler to go!'** he thought as he fired a new string of webbing, his face scrunching up in anger as he closed in on the area from where the blast had been fired, **'Whoever fired that blast is standing in the shadows up ahead! Hmm, can barely make out anything, but there seem to be a couple of figures...**

**'Can't quite see who, though...'** Spider-Man thought before touching down on the flat roof of his target zone.

"Hoh boy, it's my Doppelganger and some weird looking lady!" Peter uttered as soon as he recognised his assailants, his deep-rooted combat reflexes automatically placing him in a defensive position.

Shriek, the weird lady in question, cocked an eyebrow in amusement, "You run around in that spandex of yours and call me weird? Che, look who's talking. Doppel, sic him!"

Spider-Man barely managed to leap out of the creature's path which made the Doppelganger crash face-first to the ground, and Peter's brow creased in worry before cockily shooting back, "I have a registered trademark to protect, lady! What's your excuse?"

**'I don't dare underestimate that beast! He may be mindless, but he possesses enhanced variations of my powers which makes him dangerous as hell!'** Peter thought before somersaulting out of the way of the Doppelganger's follow-up swipe that'd have bisected him, **'Who's the woman, and what's her connection to this beast? He used to pal with the demogoblin, so what changed?**

**'Oh no, that crash face-first into the ground didn't even slow him down! But maybe I can turn the way he's trying to get a hold of me to my advantage! If I present him with a tempting enough target and get the timing just right...'** Peter thought as he kneed on the ground with his back turned to his opponent, seemingly exhausted, only to jump to his feet right when the Doppelganger closed in, nailing it with a crushing right hook that sent it flying backwards.

"Perfect!" Peter crowed, "His own forward momentum made him easy prey seeing that he couldn't stop in time!"

**'Now's my chance! Have to keep raining down blows on him so he can't recover!'** Peter thought as he leapt at the creature, his left foot hitting the Doppelganger in the face with devastating force, **'I'll finish this quickly, then I can return to MJ before she realises I've been in a fight!**

**'Meeting up with these two's all the proof I need that the insanity'll never end!'** he thought glumly as he kept punching the distorted copy of himself, **'Widow's right, maybe...'**

"Ooff!" he exclaimed as a two-armed hit scored by a punch from the Doppelganger sent a wave of agony from his ribs to his brain, **'So stupid, stupid, stupid!'** Peter chastised himself as he jumped back, his vision swimming, **'I was too distracted and allowed him to get close, and now he's closing in for the kill! That hit... c... can barely breathe! No time for anything fancy here!'** he deliberated, firing his webbing right at the beast's feet.

It might have been a desperation tactic that wouldn't have worked against most opponents, but seeing that the Doppelganger wasn't the sharpest tack in the box to begin with utterly successful. **'Who'd have guessed it'd work? He fell for the good ole webbed foot trick!'** Peter thought with a grin as the Doppelganger crashed face-first to the ground.

"Uh oh, behind me!" Peter managed to utter before a sonic blast hit the spot he'd occupied seconds before.

"Leave my Doppel alone!" Shriek exclaimed angrily as she kept firing, forcing Peter to take repeated evasive action.

"Hey hey, don't get your panties in a twist or they'll all bunch up on you 'n' ride up somethin' awful, lady! And you're annoying enough as is!" Peter taunted, jumping out of the way of yet another blast.

-.-

**The Parker's loft…**

An apprehensive Mary Jane Watson-Parker was standing at the single window the living room provided, her eyes not really seeing the street below as her mind was busy with worrying about her husband. The green-eyed beautiful redhead, just clothed in comfortable blue jeans and a black tank top had her arms crossed as she tried to divine why Peter was taking so long for what should have been a five minute trip at most.

**'What in heavens name is keeping Peter? I bet he forgot the extra dip and had to go back for it. Sure… that's it,'** she thought in a vain effort to convince herself, **'I'd better switch on the tube just in case, though,'** she told herself, **'There's supposed to be a mention of my soap "Secret Hospital" on the local news, and I'd hate to-'**

_"Reacting to the brutal tragedy that has claimed the lives of twelve of the Ravencroft security staff, the authorities have issued an all-points bulletin for escaped convict Edward Brock Jr., otherwise known as-"_

"Venom!" Mary Jane breathed in unison with the anchor-man, her green eyes filled with worry, "Oh Peter…" she sighed, going for her cigarettes and lighting one of them, "I don't need a crystal ball to know what you're doing right now…"

-.-

In that exact moment Peter's left fist was meeting the hard chin of his monstrous Doppelganger, and the beast in conjunction with the to him unknown woman were making his life exceedingly hard, **'Dunno what's tougher to avoid here- Smiley's claws or chalkie-girl's blasts!'** he thought to himself as his right hook met Doppelganger's face in a follow-up.

"Watch out, Doppy! He's trying to wrap you in his sticky goo!" Shriek yelled from the side-lines, the woman being temporarily limited to being an observer due to the combatants proximity, "Pull your arms back – now – and use your strength to toss him backwards!"

Spider-Man – who'd at least managed to trap two of the three arms on each side together – was promptly thrown backwards as the Doppelganger obliged the command, and Peter cursed up a storm in his mind as he flew through the air, **'Damn, it was hard enough fighting that nightmare while he was just stronger 'n' faster than me, but now she's coaching him! That ain't just bad, it's rapidly approaching worse!'** he thought grimly.

Landing nimble-footed on a wall's surface behind him and using his renowned ability to stick to the surface Peter immediately fired his webbing, hitting Doppelganger's face full blast, **'Wheew, I needed a moment to catch my breath, and that should do the trick!'** he thought to himself.

**'Then again,'** he immediately added with a mental sigh as his spider-sense flared up, and Peter jumped to the side just in time to avoid a sonic blast that'd have fried him, registering with apprehension that the Doppelganger had already managed to rip off half of the webbing that'd impaired his vision.

"I hate when you hop around like a demented frog on a sugar high! How'm I supposed to hit you if you keep on jumping around? No wonder Venom's so hot to plant you!" Shriek exclaimed angrily, her voice filled with frustration.

"And what's your relation to old drool-face?" Peter retorted as he avoided repeated blasts with careless ease, his spider-sense guiding him.

"Wouldn't you like to know? But I'll tell you anyway: we're partners!" Shriek exclaimed, continuing her fire all the while, "And now stand still and die!"

Peter, who kept on performing acrobatic feats no Olympic athlete could hope to match, grew increasingly worried and gave no verbal response seeing that his thoughts were running a mile a minute, **'If that's true I'm way in over my head here. There's no way I could take on all three of them, especially if Brock makes the scene! Gotta pull out the stops **_**now**_**!'**

That thought finished Peter had already brought his body into a position from whence to strike, and one fast jump forward with his left index finger stretched out later said finger hit Shriek's forehead, dropping the woman like a sack of potatoes, "Lights out, Chalkie!"

**'Damn! Spider-sense suddenly going wild!'** Peter had time to think, **'Fuck, I left myself wide open to the Doppelganger and can't****–****'** "ARHH!" he exclaimed, and though he rolled with the kick just like he'd practiced ever since his bout with Scarlet Widow and Chaos had shown him his shortcomings Spider-Man didn't manage to completely avoid the kick courtesy of the Doppelganger that hit his left side, and Peter was blown off the rooftop and hit the opposite wall with force, only just managing to hold onto it with one arm before he managed to steady himself.

His vision swimming Peter managed to raise his head just in time to see the Doppelganger take off with an unconscious Shriek in his arms, and Spider-Man instinctively knew that he wouldn't stand a chance at confronting, let alone pursuing the duo at present. "Shoot, he's taking her to safety, and I'm simply not in the shape to give chase! Urrk, my ribs feel like they're on fire, but hadn't I upped my training they'd surely have been broken! Gotta thank Scarlet Widow when I see her..."

Recuperating for several minutes brought Spider-Man's strength back up to a sufficient level to travel safely, and a web-slinger with a very troubled mind made his way back home.

-.-

**Several hours later, Ranma's flat**

Felicia and Ranma had spent the majority of the day training in Ranma's flat, amongst things, and now, at 3:07 p.m. in the afternoon the couple felt like taking in some fresh air. Five minutes later the duo exited the redhead's flat via the skylight, Ranma having given in to Felicia's suggestion to go webslinging in order to give the 'Spider-Kitty's' – Ranma's new nickname for her lover – powers a thorough test run, the fact that Ranma vividly remembered the rush these powers had caused in her a few weeks back – and were still causing, if she were to be honest – having made it easy for the redhead to agree to Felicia's suggestion.

The only real issue had been Felicia's looks, seeing as her costume was identical to Ranma's in every way, at least in its original form. Due to the fact that Felicia understandably didn't want to steal Ranma's Scarlet Widow look she had opted to go with a modified costume resembling the black garb Spider-Man had worn for a time, and it did make her in fact look like a female version of Spider-Man. It was but a stopgap until she had found her own style, but the urge to test out her new powers was stronger than the want to appear stylish.

"Now you'll have to crack bad jokes as well, 'licia," Ranma teased as she stepped out on the rooftop, closing the skylight behind her.

"Har har, very funny, dear. Not," retorted Felicia dryly, "Now how about you cease sprouting witty lines and we get a move on?" she then queried, wiggled her rear enticingly and jumped off the building, almost immediately firing her webbing.

"Damn, she's sooo hot when she does that," Ranma mused to herself, shook her head in hopes her more interesting thoughts might fall out of her head through her ears and followed Felicia's example.

Fifteen seconds later she had caught up to her girlfriend, and it was even more obvious in plain daylight just how much Felicia enjoyed her new powers. A smile formed on her masked face at the thought that Felicia's secret dream had come true for her, and she felt happiness soar through her being at the thought that her girlfriend would also use the full range of her new abilities to help prove her innocence.

The smile growing on her face Ranma let go and concentrated fully on the joy the exhilarating swing brought, and joking and laughing the two spider-powered women swung through New York.

-.-

Their wild swing across town involuntarily brought them to the Forest Hills neighbourhood of Queens, and when they cleared Ingram Street both women suddenly felt their spider senses flare up. In an effort to zoom in on the source they descended upon a flat-roofed house and crouched low so as not to be noticed.

Scanning the area the crime-fighting duo soon found the most likely source after a brief scan of the area. A grey-haired elderly woman of about sixty was walking down the sideway a good four-hundred metres ahead of them, her purchases – probably groceries – carried in a bag in her right hand, her handbag slung over her left shoulder.

The woman looked rather absent, as Ranma and Felicia noted upon her drawing nearer, as if she were preoccupied with planning the day, and she had not noticed the middle-aged man following her at some distance.

"Aunt May!" exclaimed Felicia and cursed under her breath when she recognised the old woman, and shot Ranma a worried look, "And she still hasn't noticed that bloke."

"How'd you suggest we proceed, 'licia? Go in guns blazing and sweep that critter off his feet when he tries something?"

Felicia looked around, and when she was certain that no one could see them she let her facemask fade away, her costume reforming into faded blue jeans and a white winter coat. "Nah. This is your chance to get to know May Parker, and we wouldn't be able to do that in our super hero identities. No, we'll pull this off as civilians."

"Eh, I dunno, 'licia," Ranma muttered uncertainly.

"Oh come on, don't be a worry-wart," Felicia exclaimed, and effectively forced her girlfriend to play along by jumping into the backyard of the house they were standing on.

Ranma sighed in face of her girlfriends' recklessness and followed Felicia after a quick ki-check of the house which luckily revealed that no one was at home, the redhead silently scolding herself for not having done so sooner. Landing nimble-footed beside her partner who was keeping track of the potential mugger Ranma was suddenly struck by an idea.

"'licia, let's change into sports wear, something one would wear for running. Not only would we spare ourselves the trouble of having to explain where our coats have disappeared to – provided May Parker invites us in –, no, we'd also have a credible story as to what we're doing here. If we hafta do it your way we shouldn't do it half-assed," said Ranma and willed her combat suit to reform into a black hoodie sweater and black jogging pants. Black jogging shoes and sweatbands on both arms rounded off the picture.

Felicia turned to look at Ranma, her initially pondering expression turning assenting quickly, "Excellent idea you had there, hon," she commented with a nod and almost immediately reformed her clothes into an outfit similar to Ranma's, hers consisting of white jogging pants, a navy blue hoodie sweater and dark blue jogging shoes.

"Let's wait until they've passed us by," whispered Ranma and melded with the shadows, "I wanna catch the critter in the act. And in case he's innocent and just looks like a critter, well, the better. But as they say, better safe-"

"-than sorry, yeah," finished Felicia, who had melded with the shadows herself.

Both women waited with baited breath as May Parker passed them by half a minute later, closely followed ten seconds later by the man. Ranma and Felicia waited for half a minute, nodded at each other, and like a perfectly synchronised team they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Their symbiotes ensured the soundlessness of their steps as they fell into an easy jog, and just seconds before they'd reached the man he chose to reveal his true colours. His hand shot forward and cut the handbag's strap with a knife, and a strong yank which elicited a surprised yell from Peter Parker's aunt completed the act of theft. The man was just about to make a break for it when things went downhill for him.

"Oh no, you don't!" were the last words – uttered by Ranma – the man should hear before a slightly stronger than normal punch to the back of the man's head sent him into the realm of unconsciousness.

May Parker had just managed to turn around, her expression frightened, when the man slumped to the ground with a pained groan. An apple and a pear were rolling over the pavement from where they had rolled out of the shopping bag that had fallen from May Parker's hand during the attack in perfect silence, and Felicia already made to collect the groceries.

The old woman's still wide eyes fell on Ranma who was in the process of picking up the handbag, then on the familiar face of Felicia, and relief showed on her face, "Felicia! Oh thank goodness you and your friend were here! You saved me!" exclaimed the still rattled Mrs. Parker.

"We did it gladly, Aunt May," Felicia replied smilingly and held the bag of groceries in her left hand, then turned to regard the unconscious man whom she kicked in the ribs with her right foot to ensure he was really unconscious and not faking it, "Completely out of it. Good work, Mara."

"Did you expect anything else, Felicia?" Ranma asked with a raised brow, a bemused smile playing on her lips.

"Nope, not really, sensei," Felicia retorted with a smile of her own.

"Sensei?" queried May Parker, who had listened to the brief exchange in confusion.

Felicia turned her head to look at Peter's aunt and nodded, "Mara is my martial arts teacher and a very good friend. May Parker, Mara Parker, Mara Parker, May Parker."

"Your last name is Parker?" May Parker asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and yours as well, by the sound of it," a smiling Ranma commented.

"Yes, it is, though I shouldn't be surprised that you're a Parker, Miss. You certainly have the courage of a Parker," May Parker commented in a stronger voice.

Ranma just smiled modestly, "It was nothing, Ma'am, just did what anybody else would've done as well. Say, would you mind if we dragged this idiots' sorry carcass to your home and called the police?"

"Not at all, Miss Parker," May Parker said resolutely, "And please, call me May."

"Only if you call me Mara," Ranma countered, eliciting a smile from the older woman.

"Gladly, Mara. Would you and Felicia care for some coffee and biscuits at my house? I had just taken a fresh batch out of the oven so that they could cool before I left to shop for groceries," the older woman said.

"We would only be too pleased, May," Ranma replied and looked at her girlfriend, "Wouldn't we, Felicia?"

"As my sensei said, Aunt May," nodded Felicia and bent down beside the unconscious mugger; picking up the man and hoisting him over her shoulder hardly taxed her at all, and at May Parker's surprised look she said, "Martial Arts. Mara is a very good sensei, and I have improved a lot in the time I've known her."

"I can see that," May Parker managed with a shake of her head and visibly gathered herself, "You know the way, Felicia. I don't feel like you having to carry this… person any longer than necessary."

"Me neither, Aunt May, me neither," Felicia retorted, and the three women set themselves in motion.

-.-

An hour later Felicia, Ranma and May Parker were finally seated around the living room table. Sadly, as bureaucratic procedures are wont to it had taken its sweet time to take their statements, but the delicious biscuits as well as the coffee which May had served right after the police had carted the mugger off more than made up for the delay.

Ranma and Felicia had just finished telling May Parker the – revised – story of how they'd met and become friends, namely when Ranma had rescued a woman from becoming a rape-victim, when the doorbell rang.

"Goodness!" May Parker exclaimed and almost jumped to her feet, "I completely forgot that Peter and Mary Jane wanted to come over in all that hodgepodge."

When May Parker went to open the front door Felicia and Ranma exchanged a look and silently communicated that they would stay seeing as it might just offer an opportunity to introduce Peter to the next generation of spider-powered crime-fighters.

Ranma calmly sipped her coffee and watched the hall unobtrusively, and when May returned with Peter and a red-haired woman who had to be Mary Jane her mental image of Peter Parker was affirmed. Outside of his super-hero identity Spider-Man was an average sized Caucasian man with brown hair and eyes, no one remarkable really, were it not for the intelligence shining in his eyes.

At present his face showed surprise, which changed to elatedness when he caught sight of Felicia. "Aunt May, you didn't say you had guests. Hello Felicia, what are you doing here? And who's your friend?"

"Peter, Peter, always the curious one," Felicia commented with a grin, "This is my good friend and sensei Mara, Mara Parker," she then said, and simply smiled at the cocked brow that that caused, "Why we're here, you asked? Mara and I were jogging in the area, and I just wanted to show her where one of my best friends grew up when we witnessed Aunt May being stalked by a suspicious individual.

"Using our martial arts Mara and I were able to sneak up on the man, and just when he snatched May's bag Mara here knocked him out," Felicia concluded.

Ranma, who'd been watching Mary Jane rather than Peter, noticed, that the thinly veiled look of suspicion with which the fellow redhead had regarded her girlfriend had faded away throughout the course of Felicia's telling of the happenings, and now that her mate and partner had concluded her tale the relieved looking woman embraced May Parker in a tight hug. "Oh May, I'm so glad you're okay! Thanks for saving her, Mara, Felicia!"

Peter, who'd stepped behind his aunt to lay his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, nodded. Relief and gratitude were visible in his eyes as his gaze alternated between Ranma and Felicia, "Yes, thank you, Felicia, thank you, Mara," he said, and then Peter stepped to in front of Ranma, "I believe I have not introduced myself properly. Hi, I'm Peter Parker, and I can't thank you enough for helping my aunt."

Ranma got out of her chair and gladly took the proffered hand, shook it and smiled, "It was my pleasure. Especially since it allowed us to come to enjoy May's fantastic biscuits. Not to forget the coffee, I'd die for a good cuppa," she mused and sat back down.

Mary Jane, who had in the meantime let go of May Parker, smiled as she walked over and hugged her husband from behind, carefully, Ranma and Felicia noted, "And I know a certain someone who'd die for a good coffee and a box of doughnuts. Hi, I'm Mary Jane Watson-Parker."

Ranma repeated the procedure with Mary Jane, and smiled, "Hi, Mary Jane. Just be glad your husband's addicted to something as normal as coffee and doughnuts. I know a certain someone who's addicted to milk of all things," she said, stage-whispering the last part conspiratorially.

"Maaaaaaara!" came the fake-peeved protest from Felicia, "This is so not true, and you know it."

"Says the milk addict," Ranma countered and stuck out her tongue.

The exchange caused amusement amongst the Parkers, and a friendly conversation developed from there on out.

-.-

Mary Jane and May had provided everyone with a new round of coffee after Ranma and Felicia had retold their story of how they had come to know each other, yet the two crime fighters had voluntarily dropped several hints to make Peter suspicious this time around.

It had apparently worked like a charm too, but Mary Jane, who hadn't noticed the subtle and not so subtle hints, was quite surprised when Peter suddenly announced that he had some previously unannounced business to take care of.

Aunt May had been as surprised as Mary Jane, and the latter had laced her husband with a suspicious look. Due to the fact that the married couple Parker knew each other so well Mary Jane trusted her husband, though, as she knew he'd explain everything later.

The Parkers took their leave after saying their good byes to Aunt May, and as if by coincidence Felicia and Ranma followed their example after thanking May for her hospitality.

It was an almost comical sight how Peter, who was noticeably bursting at the seams with repressed curiosity and suspicion visibly tried to maintain the air that everything was alright, but two symbiote hosts – who could now be sure that their plan had worked – and one certain wife knew that it would be but a few moments and he'd bombard Ranma and Felicia with questions.

After promising to stop by again soon Felicia and Ranma waved one last time at Aunt May and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Peter and Mary Jane were just a step behind them, and the beautiful redhead was taken aback when her husband almost hissed, "What was that in there, Felicia? What are you playing at?"

"Peter Benjamin Parker! What's gotten into you?" Mary Jane chided.

"It's okay, MJ. Peter's right, I _am _up to something," Felicia said and paused; Mary Jane looked first surprised, then suspicious as well and took Peter's hand almost in reflex, "More than you know. For instance-"

"I know of your side activities, Peter," Ranma interrupted, cutting right to the chase, and Peter's eyes widened in shock, as did Mary Jane's.

"I- I have no idea what you're talking about, Mara," Peter retorted with a barely audible waver in his voice.

Making certain that no passers-by were within earshot Ranma leaned forward and whispered, "Oh, but I'm sure you do, Spidey."

Peter almost stumbled backwards, and Mary Jane strengthened her grasp on his hand, her face having gone white. Peter turned his head almost in slow motion and turned betrayed and accusing eyes on Felicia, "Felicia! Why did you-"

"She didn't tell me, Peter," interrupted Ranma firmly, causing him to turn his head sharply to look at her, "And before you ask who it was, is there a place nearby where we could change?"

"Change? Change into what?" spoke up Mary Jane, who was visibly confused, "What's going on here?"

"Change into our costumes, Mary Jane," Ranma clarified in a whisper.

"Costumes? Ah, so you're in the hero business as well, eh?" queried Mary Jane with a knowing look.

"Something like that, yeah," cut in Felicia and looked at Peter, "Hey Pete, don't stand there like a pillar, we need your help here. Is there someplace nearby where we could change?" she demanded.

Peter was visibly shocked out of his contemplations by Felicia's tone, "Err, yeah. I kept tabs on the area, and it just happens that the house down the road where the Hendersons used to live sits empty. It's next to impossible to get a clear view of their backyard from the surrounding houses, and if memory serves they had a large shack on their property as well. The nosy neighbours who like to watch-"

"-would think we're out looking for a potential realty close to Aunt May's house. Clever, Tiger," Mary Jane concluded and gave her husband a peck on the mouth.

"Thanks, MJ. If that's okay with you two?" queried Peter, glancing from Felicia to Ranma.

"Yep," Felicia answered for them, "Lead the way, Pete."

-.-

A two minute walk later the quartet was standing in the backyard of the former Henderson house, and Peter had not exaggerated, it was perfect. Tall trees were growing on the premise which blocked the line of sight from the surrounding houses completely, and the old shack Peter had mentioned was still standing irregardless of its deterioration. It'd be child's play to change into their combat-suit clad forms in the shadow of the tall shack, and Ranma and Felicia exchanged a grin.

"You were right, Pete. This is perfect. These trees and the shack give us the perfect cover. Great!" the Black Cat enthused. "And those other trees growing in the area will make it child's play to return to the city."

"Couldn't agree more," nodded Ranma.

"I know how good you are, Felicia, but it's impossible for you to jump into those trees from here," Peter said in the breast-tone of conviction as he pointed at the trees in question a good thirty metres away.

"Yep, you'd be right if the circumstances were normal, Pete, but you see, there've been some… changes lately," Felicia retorted purposely vague with just a tad of smugness in her voice as she regarded Peter, and then she looked at Ranma, "Ready?"

"You betcha. On three?" Ranma queried, and Felicia nodded her assent, "Okay then. One, two, three!" the redhead exclaimed

Under the expectant eyes of Peter and Mary Jane Ranma's and Felicia's sports clothes began to morph of a sudden, and the now shocked Parkers watched as the clothes slowly changed into the combat suits the symbiotes provided.

Ranma had stuck with her Scarlet Widow look so that Peter would recognise her, and Felicia had chosen to wear the modified black Spider-Man costume she had worn before.

"S-Scarlet Widow!" Peter exclaimed, his expression gobsmacked, his gaze darting between the costumed women, "A-And Felicia… that costume… What the heck's going on here?" he demanded, involuntarily switching into a defensive stance.

Mary Jane laid a hand on her husband's arm, her demeanour surprisingly calm, "Peter, didn't you tell me Scarlet Widow was likely host to a symbiote? And that she wasn't evil despite her attitude?"

"Yes…" Peter replied without looking at his wife, his eyes transfixed on the costumed women in front of him who remained standing there patiently and in a non-threatening way.

"Doesn't it stand to reason then that Felicia got a symbiote as well? I mean, their clothes changed in the same way, then there's the similarity of the costume's material," Mary Jane reasoned.

Ranma shot Felicia a look while Peter went over what his wife had said, "I like her already. She's darn clever and seems to be free of prejudices."

Both women looked from Mary Jane – who had shot them a smile – to Peter, who was still visibly trying to wrap his mind around the idea of Felicia having a symbiote, only having muttered "That she is," in an absent way. Finally the spider-powered man snapped out of his contemplations and looked his erstwhile girlfriend in the eyes. "Is it true, Felicia? Is MJ right?"

"Yeah," Felicia replied and willed SD to form a collar below the neckline, "But I'd rather we talk about how that came about and everything else in a secure location. As seemingly hidden as this is place is," she waved her arm at the surroundings, "there's always the chance of eavesdroppers."

Peter and Mary Jane exchanged a knowing look and nodded, as they knew the veracity of this statement from painful experience. "What do you suggest?" asked Peter.

"How about we relocate to your flat, Mara? We could easily swing over and change back to our civilian identities in Central Park or something before crashing at your place," suggested Felicia.

"Good thinking, 'licia. You know the way to my flat which means we don't have to have consideration for the eventuality that we might lose you guys," Ranma said with a smirk, "We'll all find places to change and meet up at the N.Y. Colosseum, and from there on out we'll walk to my flat. That okay with you, Mary Jane, Peter?"

"Yeah, that'd work for us," Peter nodded after exchanging a brief look with his wife, "But your suggestion still leaves us with the problem that it's broad daylight. How do we get MJ over to Central Park without her being seen?" asked Peter, his brows furrowed.

"That's easy, Peter," Ranma spoke up with a smile, "I can extend my symbiote to cover Mary Jane, that way she'd be impossible to recognise," she suggested and held up her hands, "I know whatcha wanna say Peter, but Sym'd never harm her. You have my word it's completely harmless," she vowed solemnly.

Felicia cleared her throat, prompting the Parkers to look at her, "She's right, Pete. Our symbiotes'd never harm a hair on an innocent's body, of that you can be sure," the silver-haired woman added just as seriously.

Peter and his wife looked at each other and silently communicated with their eye, and before long MJ turned her head to look at Ranma. "You don't strike as the type to give your word easily, Mara, and I feel I can trust you and your symbiote. Count me in," the redhead said with a smile that showed off her pearly-white teeth.

Ranma smiled back just as brilliantly, "Thanks for trusting me, Mary Jane. It means a lot. Now if you'd climb aboard-"

"Hey," Felicia interrupted, her face showing she'd had a stroke of inspiration, "why don't you use the invisibility techniques, Mara? Wouldn't that work?"

"Invisibility techniques?" mouthed Peter, question marks floating above his head.

"No, it wouldn't. I could extend the field of invisibility to Mary Jane, yeah, but we'd return to the visible spectrum as soon as I fire my webbing," Ranma explained, causing Felicia to smack her right fist into her left palm with a mutter of "Bugger!".

Then turning to the Parkers she explained, "I can become completely invisible at will and can extend this 'field of invisibility' to others. But as said, as soon as I take offensive action it's bye bye invisibility."

Peter regarded Ranma with a decidedly sceptical look, and Felicia nudged Ranma with an elbow, "He needs a demonstration. Remember, he's the scientist type, they always need proof before believing in something," the Black Cat teased.

"Seems so," agreed Ranma, and looked from the frowning Peter to Mary Jane, "Mary Jane, you mind climbing on board so I can give a demonstration to those of little faith?"

"Not at all," the redhead replied, and was then subjected to the feeling of weightlessness she normally associated with Peter picking her up when Ranma took the older woman in a fireman's carry.

"And now to the demonstration you've all been waiting for. Now you see us," intoned Ranma, and activated the Umi as well as Sym's camouflaging abilities, "and now you don't.

"But as said, as soon as I take offensive action," the firing of webbing could be heard and a string of webbing connected with a tree to their left, "I'm visible again," concluded an indeed visible Scarlet Widow.

It was with amusement that Ranma gazed at Peter's expression, which showed surprise and disbelief to equal parts as he muttered "Damn, she didn't exaggerate. That's just like what the Invisible Woman can do. Remarkable."

Mary Jane giggled from her position in the other redhead's arms, "Tiger, wipe that expression off your face, or I might just consider divorcing you. You just aren't allowed to look at a woman other than me like that, even if she's invisible and even if you want to learn that trick badly," she teased.

"So no selling our firstborn then either, damn," Peter muttered and smacked his right fist into his left palm.

Ranma couldn't contain her amusement any longer at that retort and laughed out loud, then stopped cold as her senses picked up on something. **'If only you knew,'** the redhead thought to herself with a secret smile, and a second later she faded back into view. "No, that won't work either, but we'll talk about what will later. Now, I believe this little demonstration should've brought forward sufficient proof that I can back up my claims," she said confidently and willed her costume to form a collar below the neckline before she let Mary Jane to the ground again.

"You could say that, yeah," Peter said dryly, his demeanour belying just how impressed he was.

"Good. I'd say we get a move on now," Felicia spoke up, earning nods.

"Yep. Now all we have to do is wait for a certain spider to get a move on," Ranma commented teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, got the hint," Peter grumbled in a good-natured way and added, "Why do they always pick on the poor li'l spider?" as he disappeared from view.

The three women shared an amused look, but Mary Jane became serious pretty quick and focussed her gaze on Ranma, "So you're Scarlet Widow, Mara. Peter told me some things about you."

"Can't have been anything good," Ranma muttered.

"I wouldn't say that. He told me you almost killed Doc Ock a few weeks back, and he also told me why. Personally I can understand your motives very well. I'd have loved for Eddie Brock to permanently disappear off the face of the Earth after what he made me live through when he stalked me, but-"

"But?" prompted Ranma in a neutral yet encouraging tone.

"But don't you think you should rethink your convictions? Not every bad guy's beyond saving, so maybe you could implement something like 'three strikes and they're out' or something instead of offing them right away. If they haven't learned their lesson by then it's pretty much a given they're incorrigible and deserve what's coming to them," Mary Jane continued after taking a breath.

Ranma, well aware that Peter was eavesdropping in on them due to his ki-signature having drawn nearer, nodded slowly, "Maybe," she said slowly, "Y'know, some things have changed in my life lately, and I admit they've made me reconsider my priorities, but it's still my top priority to keep my precious people safe, and I'll do anything to that end. But I won't deny you got a point there, Mary Jane. Flint's proven that people can change."

"Flint? As in Flint Marko, the Sandman?" Mary Jane asked in surprise.

"Yeah. We," she nodded her head at Felicia, "have worked with him these last days. He's a pretty okay fella, and working with him made me thoughtful. If he can change others might be able to as well, yet there's still those who're too far gone. Your three strikes system might work for 'em cases, though," she allowed.

"I'm glad I was able to give you food for thought, Mara. To say that Peter isn't fond of killing is the understatement of the year, and if you'd consider rethinking your convictions it might just result in a less beat up husband for me," said Mary Jane with a wink.

"Hey!" came a protesting voice from behind as Peter rounded the corner in his Spider-Man attire, "It wasn't that bad!"

Mary Jane levelled a disbelieving stare at her husband, "Not that bad, eh? Tiger, you were beaten black and blue! I had to wait three whole days so that we could cash in on that mutual reward we had agreed upon, remember?"

Ranma blushed a bit and looked guiltily at the ground while Peter grunted noncomittically, "Eh, sorry 'bout that, Mary Jane. I had no idea you had something planned for the evening."

"You couldn't have known, Mara, and wasn't it your brother anyway who took Peter to task?" Mary Jane queried.

"Err, that's a bit complicated," Ranma replied with a sigh.

"That it is, but let's get going now. They're bursting at the seams already, no need to add more fuel to the fire of their curiosity," Felicia commented and let SD form the facemask.

"Right you are, 'licia. Ready for a swing with a different spider-powered being than you're used to, Mary Jane?" Ranma then asked with a grin as her own facemask moved upward to cover her head.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Mary Jane replied, and let herself be scooped up into Ranma's arms yet again, noticing with a small frown that the younger redhead was a lot more careful than before.

Moments thereafter Ranma let Sym cover the older redhead with her 'skin', and Mary Jane exclaimed, "Whoa, now that feels strange. Strange, but not in a bad way. Don't worry, tiger, everything's okay."

Peter nodded a bit dubiously but gave his wife a thumbs up nonetheless, "Great, MJ. Well, I'm ready to go."

Ranma inclined her head. "We're ready to go as well. See ya later, 'licia."

Felicia inclined her head and jumped upwards into the closest tree, Ranma and Spider-Man – after briefly shaking his head in wonder at having evidence that Felicia had told the truth about her powers – following her easily, and from then on out it turned into a fast-paced swing across town.

-.-

Ranma and Mary Jane easily arrived first at the meeting place and landed in a deserted alley in close proximity to the Colosseum, her usage of ki having allowed them to emerge the winners of the little 'race across town' that had ensued. Keeping to the shadows the first thing Ranma did was to make sure no one was around to see them, then the redhead retracted the part of Sym covering Mary Jane into herself.

Setting the older redhead to the ground she regarded Mary Jane, a smile playing in the corners of her mouth, "Heh, shaking them off was too easy, but that was to be expected. Anyway, how'd you like it, Mary Jane? Noticed any difference to swinging with Peter?" she asked while her combat suit reformed itself into a pair of black jeans, a white polo-neck jumper and a black down coat, Sym forming black winter boots to complete the outfit.

Mary Jane, who'd watched the process in visible fascination and interest, pondered this question for a bit. "First off, I liked it lots, Mara. I felt as safe as when swinging with Peter, and yeah, there was a difference, I think… you seemed to go faster than Peter usually does, but I didn't feel less safe," she replied.

"Glad you liked it, MJ," Ranma smiled, only to realise how she had addressed Mary Jane, "Whoops, is it okay to call ya MJ?" she added sheepishly.

Mary Jane smiled widely, "Of course, I'm used to it."

"Good. And yeah, I did move faster than Peter, and that's 'cause I have access to very large wells of ki and reiki," Ranma said just a bit smugly, and elaborated upon seeing Mary Jane's curious look, "Imagine you had so much physical and spiritual energy you could augment your body with it, say, to make yourself stronger, faster, more durable, the works. I attained this level some time ago, and tapped into my potential to win this little race."

"Wow, I mean, that's just... wow. Can anyone learn to use this 'ki' and 'reiki'?" Mary Jane asked visibly interested.

"Yeah, it's just that it usually takes years to learn," Ranma replied, and watched as Mary Jane's spirits visibly sank, "But I've found ways to speed up the process, and seeing that I'll teach Felicia it'd be my pleasure to be your sensei, Peter's too."

"You... You really mean it? That's so cool!" Mary Jane enthused, but became thoughtful just moments later, "But why are you doing this for us, Mara? Not that I – or Peter – wouldn't be grateful, but what's your motif?"

"I owe Peter a lot, and I mean a lot. Weren't it for him and the impression he made on my symbiote I'd be dead. Not just metaphorically, I mean dead as in dead and buried, kicked the bucket, food for the worms and all that," Ranma explained seriously, and Mary Jane's eyes shot open at Ranma's seriousness, but she carried on before the older redhead could ask questions, "It is 'cause of Peter that I got these powers, the ability to protect those precious to me, not to mention the innocents, even better than ever before and a second chance in life, and I if I can repay my debt by ensuring that you two can protect yourselves to the best possible degree then I'll do it," she concluded with utter conviction.

"D-Dead? You'd be dead? What happened-"

Ranma held up a hand, interrupting the other redhead, "I'll tell you and Peter the full story in a few, 'cause here they come."

Mary Jane regarded Ranma briefly and saw the honesty on her face, nodded and turned her head to look at the skyline. Sure enough, two figures slowly came into view, and Mary Jane turned her head to look at the younger redhead, "Just how were you able to tell, Mara? I caught sight of them just now."

"That's just another thing one can do with ki-exercises. Once properly trained one can sense the life energy of others, and it's exceedingly easy to sense strong signatures as theirs," Ranma explained, nodding her head at the approaching figures.

"Now that's useful," commented Mary Jane, and incidentally just as her husband and Felicia were within earshot.

Felicia and Peter exchanged a look, and the Black Cat commented, "I know that look on Mara's face, expect the worst, Pete," she said dryly.

"And I know that look on MJ's face, but I'm used to surprises," shrugged Peter, and disappeared around a corner to get changed.

Felicia smiled and shook her head in amusement, then she surveyed her surroundings, her own senses and SD's telling her that the coast was clean. A few seconds later her combat suit shuddered and quickly reformed into blue jeans, a white poloneck-jumper, a black down coat and white winter boots. As before, Mary Jane had watched the process with a look of fascination on her face, and the redhead cocked a brow in amusement, "That's gotta save a lot of time," she mused with just the barest hint of envy in her voice.

Ranma and Felicia exchanged a look and regarded Mary Jane with smiles as they nodded, "You can say that again," they replied in unison, looked at each other in brief surprise that they had said the exact same thing and giggled quietly.

"You two seem to be tuned to the same wavelength alright," commented Mary Jane with a grin.

"More so then you'd suspect, MJ," replied Felicia with a catty grin, and Ranma grinned knowingly as well, causing Mary Jane to cock a brow.

Felicia then turned her head to look at her girlfriend and partner, "And what exactly are you up to, Mara? What is it that MJ finds so useful?" Felicia queried smilingly.

"Remember I told you 'bout those ki-exercises and how one can sense others with proper training?" asked Ranma.

"Yeah," she said, and then it clicked, "Oh, you wanna teach the ki-techniques to MJ as well! Neat!"

"I hope I can join in on this 'study group' as well," said Peter as he joined the females, "Or is it girls only?"

"Hmm, I have to think about that," retorted Ranma and made a thoughtful face, which lit up with mischief a few moments later when she saw Peter's disappointed face, "Of course you can join in, you dummy!" she laughed, "Even though you don't know it, you saved my life. If I can repay my debt by teaching you and MJ all I know I'll do so and do it gladly."

"Saved your life? I don't remember saving you specifically, but then again, I've saved a lot of lives..." Peter trailed off contemplatively.

"Let's relocate to Mara's flat. I know for a fact that she has heavenly coffee, café latte and cocoa. We can even grab ourselves some doughnuts on the way to her flat," Felicia suggested.

"Grand idea, Felicia!" enthused Peter, "It's been ages since my last doughnut."

"Yeah, two whole hours, tiger," Mary Jane teased smilingly, "And don't forget about all those biscuits you ate at Aunt May's."

"So what? A man needs his nutrients," Peter retorted in the breast-note of certainty.

Ranma agreed mentally but looked as amused as the other women, and with things settled the group set itself in motion.

-.-

A quarter of an hour later the group of four arrived at Ranma's flat, Peter having made good use of the time; the spider-powered man had informed Felicia and Ranma of his encounter with Shriek and the Doppelganger and had also mentioned Venom's escape from Ravencroft. Peter had even made good on the promise he'd made to himself and had thanked Ranma for forcing him to up his training.

Naturally, the couple had been worried upon hearing the news, but Ranma had – much to Felicia's relief – decided not to actively seek out the man who was host to Sym's 'parent'. "If he's stupid enough to run into my fist he's fair game, though," Ranma had added, which was something Felicia had easily agreed to.

Once at the apartment building that housed Ranma's flat and climbing six flights of stairs later the martial artist ushered her guests into her abode. Throwing around curious and impressed looks Peter and his wife threw their clothes onto the clothes tree, and a smiling Felicia nudged Ranma with her elbow, "Better give them a full tour of the flat, they're downright bursting at the seams with curiosity."

"Oi, we're not," protested Peter.

"Yes we are," countered a smiling Mary Jane and kissed her husband on the cheek, Peter muttering something about 'treacherous redheads' which prompted Mary Jane to just smile sweetly before looking at Ranma, "I'd love that tour very much, for I got to admit, I like what I see. Everything's so bright, the pictures, the deco... You fulfilled yourself a dream when you settled in, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. See, this is my first own flat, and I wanted it to be as much of a home as possible," replied Ranma, a proud smile playing on her face, "I'm glad you like it, and even gladder to give you the tour de house.

"Felicia, would you please be a dear and make coffee, café latte and cocoa in sufficient quantities while I'm busy showing off my humble abode?" the redhead asked with a smile and batted her lashes for effect.

"Of course, dear," Felicia replied with a smile of her own and turned around, her answer causing raised brows from both Parkers who exchanged a look that plainly screamed 'what the hell'. Ranma even thought she heard Peter mutter, "Since when's Felicia into women?", which made it hard for her to hold in her laughter.

A smiling Ranma shook her head in bemusement as she watched her girlfriend disappear down the corridor with an extra sway to her hips, and turned around to face the weirded out Parkers, "Trust me, that ain't the only surprise awaiting you today. Open-mindedness is a must in these next few hours," she said seriously, and urged the dumbly nodding Parkers to follow her.

With that said, the redhead turned and began to walk away towards the spiral staircase, and the tour de house commenced.

What began with a rough start quickly turned into an enjoyable walkthrough with even Peter showing more than just slight interest, yet Mary Jane's reaction was unsurprisingly stronger. The older redhead just loved the flats' interior, the layout of the rooms and Ranma's taste, and it had been with a wistful sigh that she had wished for enough money to set up something similar. Peter has sighed as well, his sigh not surprisingly due to the knowledge that his wife's wish would be impossible to fulfil.

Ranma had just smiled mysteriously and remarked that they shouldn't throw in the sponge so easily, which had unsurprisingly caused confusion on the Parkers parts. Yet seeing as Ranma had not seen fit to elaborate they had concluded the tour, and were now, ten minutes later, seated around the large table the living room provided, Ranma facing Peter while Felicia faced Mary Jane. Each of them had steaming beverages sitting in front of them, a large tray filled with doughnuts and biscuits sitting on the table inviting the quartet to do away with the sweet pastries.

The Parkers had already expressed how impressed they were by the flat, and when Peter, who was unsurprisingly enjoying coffee and a doughnut, asked how she had been able to afford it Ranma smiled wistfully and took a sip from her café latte, whereupon she became serious, "First off, I'll be nothing but completely open and honest with you. That I swear. Everything you'll be learning is the truth and nothing but, Felicia can vouch for that. How? That's part of the story, a story that took its beginning roughly ten months ago. It all started in Japan..."

-.-

It took Ranma and Felicia over an hour to relay all pertinent facts, including but not limited to a brief summary of the redhead's life in the Nerima ward of Tokyo, Japan, the trap Ranma had unwittingly run into almost a year ago and everything from then on out, her curse, the fiancées and the relationship developing between her and Felicia.

The latter two points had been the hardest to swallow for the Parkers seeing that Ranma couldn't offer credible proof for the time being, but Felicia vouching for her girlfriend seemed to be good enough until proof could be brought forward. Ranma had been able to tell that Peter suspected her to be her own 'brother', but it had been readily apparent that the scientist in Peter would wait broaching that particular topic until he had proof. Which was just fine with Ranma, seeing as she still felt guilty for having ruined the Parkers evening like that and was racking her brain how to make it up to them.

To show that she was willing to tell the Parkers everything Ranma had even reverted back to her Japanese form and back again despite the immense pain this involved, and thus she'd also been able to easily get the point across that she was the one who had been convicted for five-fold murder as 'Ronin Ranko'. Ranma had been relieved beyond measure to see that the Parkers believed her, which was, as Mary Jane commented, not least due to the fact that they had seen some 'strange shit in their lives'.

Upon being asked what Ranma planned to do the redhead had furrowed her brows, "Explore my relationship with Felicia," she mused, a smile tugging at her lips that was mirrored by the Black Cat, "Find trails that'll prove my innocence and get my highschool graduation diploma so I can take up the studies I wanna.

"Oh, and teach the three of you how to really kick ass," she added with a wolfish grin.

Peter whistled, "A lot on your plate, I see. Say, which studies would you like to take up, and what was that about finishing highschool? I gleaned from your explanations that you have a valid ID identifying you as Mara Nicole Parker – a very clever anagram of Ranma by the way – so couldn't you have added faked graduation diploma to your files?"

"I could have at that, but I rather want to do it the 'traditional' way, see, learn something for life. My history says I'm an orphan from some backwater town in the wilds, I have no paper trail, no report cards, so, what's the standard procedure if I were to apply for a local highschool?" Ranma queried.

The others, including Felicia who had not learned of that part of Ranma's plans yet either, furrowed their brows in thought with Peter being the first to arrive at a conclusion, "They'd subject you to an aptitude test to gauge which level you're at in order to place you," he spoke up, "Am I correct to assume you'll be placed in the graduating class due to Sym lending you her help?"

"That, and I'm not exactly stupid either. After Sym repaired all the damage done to my body I found out I have very high memory retention and an almost photographic memory. That, and I've loads of determination. Now that I have all the papers needed I'll be able to take the test whenever I want to, and I'm certain I will get placed in the graduating class. But seeing as term doesn't start until late August or early September I've got almost five months at hands to prepare myself.

"It'll mean loads of learning and hard work over the course of the next few months, but it'll give me the time I need to get to a level that'll allow me to graduate with top marks. And I'm almost certain I'll enjoy the experience just as much as training the three of you," concluded Ranma with a smile that only held a bit of doubt.

"And what prompted you to want to graduate and take up studies in the first place, Ranma? Don't get me wrong, I find it admirable, but you said yourself, you never were one for learning when you lived in Nerima. What changed?" asked Mary Jane, honest curiosity shining in her green eyes.

"Nerima... was a constant struggle. Sure, there were good times, much as I'm loath to admit it, but the constant fights," Ranma sighed and interrupted herself briefly to take a deep breath, "Imagine stupid idiots challenged you at least once a day – usually more often – with you being unable to refuse due to the stupid credo that your school accepts every challenge, literally everyone wanting something out of you, the fiancées playing tug o' war with you as the prize... I had to get most of my sleep in class. And even though, I always pulled through in the tests, despite everything.

"Now that I'm free of that, now that I can pick my fights I can expend a lot more energy to improve my chances in life," the redhead mused with gleaming eyes, "I dunno yet which studies I wanna take up, but it'll have nothing to do with martial arts; seeing what good that did me in my 'last life' woke me up to reality. I can't afford to be an idiot savant who can perform but one trick if I want to accomplish my goals," she mused almost to herself, her gaze hard and determined, "Anyway, I've got some ideas, but nothing definite, really. Micro-biology, Genetics, Trigonometry, Computer programming, English and Economics are some of the subjects that interest me, but I wanna get my high school diploma first. The rest will come."

Mary Jane, Felicia and Peter exchanged a look, "Admirable," commented the only male Parker in the room, "I'd like to offer you my help, Ranma. You probably know that I won't always be available due to certain side activities, but if I can I'll help."

"Thanks. That means a lot, Peter," said Ranma with a honest smile, and some of her disbelief must have shown through, for both Parkers turned questioning gazes upon her.

"Is something wrong, Ranma?" asked Mary Jane.

"Nah, it's nothing. It's just... I'm not used to others doing something for me without wanting something in return. That was rare in Nerima, very rare," replied Ranma with a far-away look.

"I can only imagine the kind of life you must have led," sighed Mary Jane, her voice full of compassion for the younger redhead who'd swivelled her head to look at Mary Jane, "But now you're here, with friends, and things will get better. I just know it."

"Thanks, MJ. That means a lot," Ranma said with a genuine smile.

"I've nothing to add to what my wife said other than that a Parker always stays true to his or her word, and Parkers are always there for theirs. In other words, we'll be there for you," Peter spoke up solemnly and underlined what he'd said with a smile, "I'll also try to use my connections to sound out what can be done about your trial. Maybe Jen Walters can... Yeah, she might just be the person of contact," he mused thoughtfully and took a sip of his coffee.

Ranma didn't even try to hide how moved she was, especially since Peter had practically accepted her as a Parker, and just smiled thankfully, "You ain't got no idea how much that means to me, Peter, MJ. Having true friends is something almost... alien to me," she whispered in an almost reverent tone that made Peter and MJ smile at each other.

The male Parker leant forward in his chair, his brown eyes twinkling slowly, "You showed how good a person you are on several occasions, Ranma. And even if we don't see eye to eye on some things," Peter smiled ironically, "you showed today that you're someone I'd love to be friends with, MJ too."

"Usually I don't let my husband speak for me, so this is the exception to the rule, tiger," commented a smiling Mary Jane.

"I- Thanks, guys. Now, who's this Jen Walters?" Ranma wanted to know after she'd collected herself.

Felicia laid her left hand on Ranma's arm, "Remember the Hulk, dear? Bruce Banner, the genius scientist who became a 2.20 metres tall green muscle-bound machine of destruction after he blundered into the test of the gamma bomb he had developed?

"Jennifer Walters is his cousin," the Black Cat continued upon Ranma's nod, "A blood transfusion had the unexpected side effect of transforming her into She-Hulk. Yet in contrast to Bruce Banner she keeps her mind when she assumes her alter ego."

"Couldn't have summed it up better myself. Jen Walters is a successful attorney at law, and she could be very beneficial to clearing your name. And," a contemplative expression appeared on Peter's face, "as could Matt Murdock. He's one heck of an attorney over at Hell's Kitchen."

"I finally feel like I'm... like we're making progress," Ranma sighed, "Now the _only _thing I have to do is find proof for my innocence. I have to find out who cloned me."

"Wait a sec... Did you just say 'cloned'?" asked Peter intently, his eyes practically drilling into Ranma.

"Err, yeah. Why, didn't I mention that before?" queried Ranma, puzzled.

"No, you most certainly didn't, Ranma. And that gives things a wholly new spin," muttered Peter darkly.

-.-

A feeling of tension so thick that one could conceivably have cut it with a knife reigned in the living room of Ranma's flat, and the martial artist's blue eyes were literally fixated on Peter's brown ones. "You... You had problems with clones as well?" she queried tentatively and could have smacked herself the second the words tumbled out of her mouth as they sounded so utterly stupid even to her own ears.

Peter whereas didn't take notice, "Problems? You could say that, yeah," he said darkly and leant back in his chair with a deep sigh before steepling his fingers, "It happened several years ago, seemingly a life-time back. The whole story's downright bizarre and the worst example of a convoluted mess, but you seem to have experience with those kinda."

"Whatever gave you the idea?" Ranma asked dryly, the barest hint of an ironic smile touching her face.

"Lucky guess," Peter retorted with a grin before turning completely serious, "Okay. Now imagine the following: your girlfriend, a gorgeous young woman by the name of Gwen Stacy gets roped into a fight between you and a powerful lunatic called the Green Goblin. You do everything in your power to keep him away from her, but the man, who knows your secret identity and how much it'd hurt you if something happened to her manages to throw her off the bridge you were fighting on.

"You jump after her and fire your webbing in a valiant attempt to save her, but all that that accomplishes is that the backlash breaks her neck," Peter made a pause and took a sip of his coffee to collect himself, Mary Jane squeezing his hand while Felicia and Ranma looked at the spider-powered man in sympathy.

"It was years and years ago, but sometimes like today when I talk about it the memory's still so fresh as if it happened yesterday," Peter said in an attempt at an explanation.

"Pete, I've explained it to my little Miss Frost here and I'll gladly explain it to you as well, the capacity to feel emotions, to show, share and express them is what makes us human," Felicia spoke up, her hand lightly squeezing a pouting Ranma's free hand. "If you couldn't feel compassion for others, sadness, empathy, you'd involuntarily end up like Eddie Brock who only feels sorry for himself and blames you for everything under the sun. Be happy that it ain't so and rejoice in your capacity to be human."

"That... That was... deep, Felicia," Peter said after the words had sunken in, Ranma and Mary Jane nodding as well with the former feeling that she was slowly understanding the message her girlfriend had tried to get across. "Well, Gwen died, and so did the Green Goblin who was impaled by his own Goblin glider," he continued, and briefly scrunched up his face, "Not a particularly nice way to go, but I admit I wanted to tear Osborn limb from limb after Gwen's death. I-"

"Hold your horses, Pete. Did you say Osborn?" interrupted an agitated Ranma.

"Yeah. Didn't I mention it? The Green Goblin was Norman Osborn, industrial magnate and founder of Oscorp, and incidentally the father of my best friend Harry," Peter explained, his voice cracking slightly at the end.

"No, that must have slipped your mind, Peter," Ranma said dryly, "So with Norman Osborn dead, what about his son? Any chance he might be behind this?"

A brief look of pain that had nothing to do with his bandaged ribs flashed in Peter's eyes, and Mary Jane grasped his hand harder, "None at all. Harry... He died a few weeks ago, Ranma. And he was a friend to the end."

Ranma nodded solemnly, her eyes showing understanding, "I see. So, if it wasn't this Norman Osborn, who could be behind this?"

"Maybe the same man who blamed me for Gwen's death, the man who created a clone of me, and the man who found out I'm Spider-Man. Professor Miles Warren, the Jackal," Peter said seriously.

"But isn't Warren dead and buried, Pete?" Felicia asked sceptically.

"His death was never conclusively proven. The man was a genius when it came to cloning as I learned the hard way, who's to say it wasn't one of his clones that died?" Peter had them consider with a shrug.

"And you think that Warren works or worked for Oscorp, Tiger? That Ranma was a victim of circumstances and the ideal subject to test his – probably improved – cloning methods on? That there's more looming on the horizon?" Mary Jane spoke up with worry evident in her voice.

"It'd make sense, yeah," Peter nodded, his face as troubled as his wife's.

"Oh yeah, it would," agreed Ranma in a dark tone, "If that Warren's just half as good as you make him out to be, Peter, he'd easily be able to pre-program a clone however he wanted. Heck, he'd just have to have given my cloned self the command to rip anyone in half who tried to hit on her. 'Scuse the language, but fuck, that test run was a success," she said bitterly.

"You can say that again, dear. And that doesn't bode well for whatever is to come. Something tells me there're hard times ahead of us," sighed Felicia and grabbed Ranma's hand, giving it a strong squeeze.

"I have the feeling that you're onto something with your gut-feeling, Felicia, but thanks to Ranma and what happened to her we have at least a warning," Peter spoke up, "There're some strong pointers that Warren's still alive and active, and who knows what he'll be up to? I have every intent to take up your offer to learn your Art, Ranma."

"Me too," Mary Jane spoke up, causing Peter to smile and Ranma to nod as if it were a given, and Peter swivelled his head to look back at Ranma after flashing his wife a love-filled smile.

"I want to be prepared to the best of my abilities, and I want the same for MJ as well, which won't come as a surprise. I'm certain you want the same for Felicia, and I'm sure we'll be able to work out a schedule. As I already offered, I'll help you with your studies any way I can. Deal?"

Ranma nodded seriously, a smile slowly forming on her face, "Deal," she agreed with a nod, then her smile grew colder, "And if I find that this Warren was the perpetrator behind my suffering he's mine, Peter. Mine. Nothing will stand in my way, nothing. I'll carve a bloody path out of everyone who tries to until I get my hands on him, and then I'll make his suffering legendary before I send him to hell," she whispered, her tone so cold, unforgiving and filled with utter conviction that it sent shivers down the others' spines.

No one in the room doubted for a second that Ranma would do exactly as she had promised.

**to be continued**...

I just kinda 'remembered' that not everyone knows all the Marvel characters. That's why I'll plan on listing the various appearances according to chapter from now on.

**Shriek**: the woman born as Frances Louise Barrison aka Sandra Deel is a dangerous and criminally insane villainess who has the power to manipulate sound to either disorient her enemies or fire concussive blasts from her hands, and she also has the ability to fly and levitate objects or people indicating some form of psionic powers. Shriek can manipulate the inner fears and angers in a person's mind and make them act on those emotions in a violent manner, and it proved capable of affecting someone as strong-minded as Iron Fist. Her insanity is what makes her so unpredictable, and she is wont to endanger innocent bystanders without a second thought.

**Venom**: Eddie Brock was a less than successful columnist working for the Daily Globe until he was approached by a man named Emil Gregg. Gregg claimed he was the infamous serial killer known as The Sin Eater and agreed to share his confessions with Brock provided his identity was not revealed to the public. Brock immediately agreed and published a series of articles detailing Gregg's confessions, making Brock more and more popular.

However, facing mounting pressure from the authorities, Eddie Brock was eventually forced to reveal the identity of his source in a major front page headline that was immediately sold out.

But Eddie's success was rather short lived, for mere hours after the article was published Spider-Man captured the real Sin Eater, a retired police captain named Stan Carter.

Eddie was fired in disgrace as a result and blacklisted by the journalism community, forced to write slander and drivel for local rag. His wife abandoned him, and Eddie was forced to move into a desolate apartment in the Bronx. He spent the rest of his scanty income on weightlifting equipment and punching bags, working on his physique in an effort to distract himself from his hatred for Spider-Man, whom he blamed for making his life hell.

Eventually Eddie Brock succumbed to depression as everything became too much to bear, and he walked into a church to beg for forgiveness before killing himself. Yet as fate, destiny or The Force would have it, Brock happened to walk into the same-self church where Spider-Man had fought to destroy the alien symbiote that had attached itself to him during the Secret Wars. It turned out the alien had survived Spider-Man's attempt at destroying it through the sonic vibrations caused by the church bell, and sensing his hatred the alien descended on Brock and bonded with him, creating Venom.

The 'fused being' Venom, obsessed with taking revenge on Spider-Man, has all of Spider-Man's abilities, with the addition of the ability to nullify Spider-Man's 'spider sense' and the ability to use his costume in various ways, like, suffocating his enemies. He is considered extremely dangerous.

**The Doppelganger****: **a remnant from a failed attempt to conquer the dimension Earth 616 resides in, the Doppelganger is basically a mindless beast possessing vastly enhanced variations of Spider-Man's abilities, including razor-sharp webbing that can cut through almost anything. He/It is usually the mindless brawn backing up the brain, in this case Shriek.

And that's a wrap. Took me longer than usual, but that's mainly due to the fact that I got knocked flat by a damn nasty bout of flu. Nothing I can recommend, there're nicer ways to get a sickness certificate…

Don't have more to say this time around other than I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner, which will feature the return of male Ranma, amongst things.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

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	14. Strange encounters

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 14: Strange encounters**

The evening sun was emitting its last rays on what had been a wonderful Tuesday, and it provided just about sufficient illumination for a young man living at 56th and Amsterdam Ave in New York City to finish his studies for the day. The said young man, known as Randall Parker to those of his neighbours who bothered to learn his name and as just Ran to his friends, was seated in his study – as he had been wont to do in the late afternoons ever since the talk he'd had with the Parkers and his girlfriend – with his nose buried in a Trigonometry book.

Numerous notes were scattered on his desk, and if anyone from his old life would have caught him in this pose, a classic thinking pose with his elbows propped up on the desk and his face in hands no less, they'd assuredly have run for the hills in fear of an alien invasion; and they'd probably have keeled over in a dead faint had they learned of Ranma's new outlook on learning. An outlook that'd changed dramatically in that he'd discovered that learning could be fun. Just not Trigonometry, for that was plain evil in his opinion. It was a necessary evil, though, and Ranma knew this.

The changes that'd happened to him due to Sym's doing made learning and comprehending things much, much easier for Ranma than ever before, and he'd been overjoyed to find that his symbiote had been right; his prodigal learning curve that'd been limited to the Art up until Sym had 'unchained' his mind did indeed carry over to anything he put his mind to. He understood and retained information he'd read but once, much the same as it had always been with Martial Arts moves. That didn't mean, however, that stuffing all of this information into his brain wasn't taxing. Far from it, Ranma thought as he massaged his temples with a grimace.

Coming to the conclusion that he wouldn't get done much of anything any more now that his concentration was waning Ranma bookmarked the page he'd been reading with a nod and closed the book shut, satisfied with his study session. Then he leant back in his office chair, closed his eyes and started to knead his lower lip with his right thumb and index finger, a habit he'd picked up in the last few weeks and that surfaced whenever he was thinking intently.

He stopped that after a few seconds and a small smile made its way on his face that steadily broadened when he recalled one of the memories that reminded him what he learned for, what he fought for. Not his revenge, well, not just his revenge, he allowed, but the woman he could rightfully call his girlfriend, maybe even the love of his life.

The feeling of fluttering butterflies in his stomach made Ranma smile even wider, and he involuntarily sighed in a way only people in love could, well-knowing but not caring just how corny that sounded even to him. His smile dimmed a bit as he was reminded just what it had taken for him to find real love as opposed to that love- what would one call it? Triangle? Quadruple? Or even quintet? - whatever in his old life. Being incarcerated and thrown to the dogs, almost losing himself in that hellhole, almost being raped and killed, even. That's what it had taken.

Ranma squared his jaw and forcefully banished these dark thoughts from his mind, and he thought back to the first time he'd been male around Felicia...

_An absolutely exhausted duo of lovers touched down soundlessly on the rooftop of Ranma's flat in the cover the darkness of the night provided, and that she had to put an effort into opening the skylight was testament to how exhausted Ranma really was. Not that her partner, who was just a step behind, was faring much better. The redhead jumped down into the guest bedroom first, and without thinking about it much collapsed face-first onto the guest bed. "Ugh, remind me next time that our symbiotes hate fire," Ranma muttered into the cushions, and oofed when Felicia collapsed onto her._

_"Will do, if you remind me first," Felicia muttered back, and began to snuggle into the other woman moments later, "Mmmmh, you make for one gorgeous pillow, dear."_

_Moments of silence followed until Ranma ground out, "I aim to please, honey, but I'm too exhausted to really enjoy you being all cuddled up to me. That fire took a lot out of me, especially when that burning wooden rafter came crashing down and I'd to catch it bare-handed. I've hardly ever felt so drained lately, but keeping up the Soul of Ice all the time was... hellacious."_

_Felicia, who'd scowled briefly when her partner had mentioned that she didn't enjoy one of their favourite cuddling positions, smiled in understanding upon hearing Ranma's explanation. "You were wonderful, dear. Without you we'd never have saved all the people from the fourth floor, and you know it."_

_Ranma smiled into the cushions, "Maybe, but can I get my reward after a steaming hot shower? I desperately need one."_

_"Who said anything about a reward?" queried Felicia teasingly, and one could hear the mockingly cocked brow in her voice._

_Ranma's smile widened, "Your scent did, dear," the redhead replied teasingly and pushed herself up on her hands to stretch her spine, Felicia's weight on her back being inconsequential to her, "And it told me you want a reward, too," she added with a lascivious grin. "But right now I'm not in the mood, I really need that shower."_

_Felicia, who was blushing a bit and whose breathing had quickened got off of her lover reluctantly, allowing Ranma to move onto her back, "So?" the Black Cat finally asked, and lowered herself onto a momentarily surprised Ranma who clearly hadn't anticipated this turn of events and was pressed back into the cushions with a small protesting noise, Felicia pressing her body against Ranma's only to capture the redhead's mouth in a passionate kiss which lasted for almost a minute until they came up for air, "It just means we see eye to eye, so hurry up and get that hot shower of yours. Meetcha in the master bedroom," she concluded with a devilish grin and made move to get up. _

_Ranma wrapped a hand around the back of Felicia's head in ways of a reply and pulled her into another kiss that lasted even longer than the first, only this time around exploring hands added to the fun, resulting in two very flustered women. "Damn, but that was good," breathed a flushed Felicia, her goofy smile turning longing, "But if we keep that up I'll want more soon, dear. I could barely control myself just now..."_

_"Me too," admitted an almost embarrassed looking Ranma and dropped a peck on Felicia's lips, "and I feel I'll be ready soon. Just give me some more time, but now I really need that shower. A __**cold **__one!" she exclaimed and weaselled out from under Felicia._

_The silver-haired woman looked after the retreating backside of her girlfriend, and a slow smile spread on her face when she heard the patter of Ranma's naked feet on the wooden steps of the spiral staircase. "I still have it in me," she mused to herself in a self-satisfied way and rolled onto her back, only to sniff the odour she was permeating; a soft blush spread on her face as she muttered, "But so does Ra-chan. Damn, she was right, a cold shower's definitely in order!"_

_Downstairs Ranma was already several steps ahead of her lover and had willed Sym off her body, leaving her just clad in the navy blue undies she was wearing, which were consequently stripped off and thrown into the hamper. A small look of apprehension spread on her face as Ranma considered just how far they'd taken things just now while she went about taking care of her personal hygiene, then the redhead shook her head and stepped into the shower, "Get a hold of yourself, Parker," she muttered to herself, voluntarily using her new surname so as to engrain it, "or you'll just want to jump her bones even more. And once we really have a go at it I just know there won't be any stopping us."_

_Quickly adjusting the tap to cold Ranma turned on the shower and flinched at the cold sensation the icy water brought about. After about five seconds of standing under the cold stream she gradually adjusted the water to less cold temperatures and was so absorbed in trying to distract herself from her amorous thoughts involving herself and a certain Cat in some very interesting positions that she almost missed the appreciative whistle coming from the door._

_Turning around slowly Ranma glimpsed upon her girlfriend who was standing in the doorframe, casually leaning against it with the left side of her body, a hungry look in her eyes. Felicia then slowly willed off her symbiote generated clothes and removed her undies in a very sensual way, leaving her in the nude. At that moment the redhead felt like time stretched out, and everything she perceived and felt seemed to have slowed down to slow motion. Then the Black Cat strutted the short distance over to the shower cubicle with a lascivious swing to her hips that caused Ranma to lick her lips, and then Felicia stepped into the shower, a catty grin adorning her face._

_Ranma watched in a trance-like state as Felicia closed the door and stepped to in front of her, the redhead watching transfixed as the water cascaded down her lover's well-toned body. The young Parker had the illusion that the droplets of water being emitted by the shower head fractured into millions upon millions of tiny crystals upon coming into contact with her love's body, and she stared into Felicia's face, mesmerised. _

_Later neither would have been able to say for sure who started the kiss, but an instant later found the women connected at the lips, arms slung around each other in a passionate embrace. The kiss lasted even longer this time, up until Felicia had had her fill of cold water. Scowling the silver-haired woman adjusted the tap to warm, and sighed in relief upon the sensation of warm water cascading down on her body._

_Felicia had briefly closed her eyes upon the pleasant sensation which was why another sensation her senses were trying to call her attention to didn't register for a few seconds. The Black Cat opened her eyes, only to find herself face to face with a young man a good deal taller than her. Her first impulse to scream and bash him over the head was pushed down violently when her quick wit latched onto the numerous similarities between her girlfriend and this young man, and her face held a questioning expression when she inquired, "Ranma?"_

_-.-_

_The young man in question was staring down upon his body in surprise, surprise that quickly changed to elation. He looked into the eyes of his girlfriend only to find a myriad of emotions in these verdant orbs, and the possibility of Felicia slipping into the well-known scream-and-bash-reflex he himself had developed in female form made him put up his arm in a defensive stance as well as the shower cubicle allowed. _

_An internal sigh of relief escaped him when Felicia's face relaxed and began to sport a curious and inquisitive expression, and he could have kissed her seeing as she had once again proven how different she really was from the girls of his old life. Upon her tentative query of "Ranma?" he couldn't help but laugh and nod, and a few moments later he found himself enveloped in a tight hug. _

_Said hug brought about a maelstrom of different feelings in Ranma as he finally hugged a naked female of his own free will, and he found he greatly enjoyed it, one part of his anatomy in particular, at that. A soft smile spread on Ranma's face when Felicia buried her face in his shoulder, and the Parker youth touched his face to hers, smelling her hair. "Damn, it feels mighty good to be able to change again," the blonde-haired young man muttered into Felicia's hair._

_The silver-haired woman pulled back and smiled at Ranma before resting her head against his chest, pressing her body against his, slinging her slender arms around his mid-section. "I bet, love," she replied smilingly, and looked down his mid-section, her grin widening, "Oh, is that for me? All of it?" she asked playfully, her grin threatening to split her face._

_In days past Ranma would have stuttered denials and made a fool of himself, but things were totally different with Felicia. And with the life experience he'd involuntarily gained since Nerima under his belt the young man simply smirked in reply and patted Felicia's bum, "If you're a good girl, yeah."_

_Felicia brought her left index finger to her lips and pretended to think for a moment, "Dunno if I ever was a good girl in my life, but would it help if I told you how I feel about you?" she asked, her eyes going serious towards the end._

_Ranma had the distinct feeling that Felicia hadn't planned on foregoing her playfulness so abruptly, which meant that what she had to say had to be pretty important to her, "Yeah," he simply said, stroking her left hand with his right, hoping to encourage her._

_"You're everything I'd hoped you'd be, Ranma, and more. You know, that feeling that I've known you forever's even stronger now, and the horde of butterflies in my stomach seems to have doubled. I love you," Felicia said with heart-felt emotion, looking up at her boyfriend lovingly._

_Ranma, who'd softly stroked his girlfriends' hand with his thumb throughout her monologue, smiled lovingly at Felicia and removed his hand from hers to cradle her face in his hands, making her look up at him, "I'm glad, and I feel the same. Any time I look at you, smell your hair, hold you or just plain think of you I can't help but stop to think, 'Yeah, that's the woman I've fallen for, hard.'. I love you, 'licia," he whispered and drew her lips to his._

_Felicia was astonished at the amount of love and tenderness yet also of lust and passion contained in the kiss, and instantly reciprocated with a passion. At the same time he'd begun kissing his girlfriend Ranma had slid his hands from her cheeks through her hair, his hands coming to a rest at the nape of her neck. Instinct took over and Ranma broke the kiss – which elicited a protesting moan from Felicia – just long enough to lock her body with his strong legs, leaving feather-light kisses along her jaw-line as he pulled her closer._

_Almost three minutes later the Black Cat pulled back with a moan and her eyes opened and searched his face for a few seconds, then she pressed herself tighter against Ranma. The kiss that followed communicated their mutual feelings of desire and excitement, and when they came up for air and gazed into each others eyes they knew they were ready to take the next step. "Bedroom, now," was all Felicia said in a tone that was the epitome of huskiness, and a Ranma filled with anticipation and just a touch of apprehension followed his naked and dripping wet girlfriend all too gladly, all previous exhaustion forgotten._

Ranma smiled fondly at the memory of his first time. It had been all he'd hoped it would be, and more. That'd been over six and a half weeks ago, and his smile grew even wider at the memories of all the follow-ups that'd occurred. Yeah, that'd been good times, and who knew, if he was lucky tonight would show him and Felicia another good time.

His smile dimmed slightly and gave way to a serious expression as Ranma reminisced, his mind wandering to the rigorous training regime Happosai and he'd cooked up. Those had been hard times for Felicia, particularly in the beginning, but his girlfriend had proven that she had a will of iron and the determination to pull through everything. It were these character traits – not to mention her beauty – that had impressed even Happosai who'd never taught females before, and even if he'd never admit it, Ranma had the suspicion the old Grandmaster had begun to think of Felicia as something akin to a granddaughter.

His serious expression softened a bit and the ghost of a smile returned as Ranma considered just how far Felicia had come in these weeks. In fact, his girlfriend was slowly getting to a level that'd allow her to perform her mission in Nerima even without relying on SD; she'd already been a very good martial artist in her own right before the training, but between what Happosai and he had dished out in the last weeks, not to mention SD applying the counterforce method to Felicia's every move, she'd improved in leaps and bounds incredibly quickly. Her mastery of Japanese was improving by the day as well, as was her knowledge of the NWC and their likely reactions, their fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses.

It was a huge advantage that couldn't be valued enough that SD could provide Felicia with memories pertaining to the whole Anything Goes style, and Felicia having SD gave her the advantage that it granted her a form of photographic reflexes as well, which made learning the Art a breeze. She'd even learned the difficult arts of the Yamasenken and how to fire a ki-blast very quickly, almost as quickly as he had back then. He had been inordinately proud of her, and her quick progress had proven to him that he'd finally found a woman who'd be able to keep up with him, maybe even give him a challenge in a few months time. But that'd come, eventually.

Now, thanks to SD, Happosai's and his own drills she was rapidly approaching a level close to what he'd had been at before his arrival in Nerima, and that without SD enhancing her. She'd likely go even further before she'd depart for Japan, and it almost defied belief that she could have gotten so good so fast, but it was reality. A reality the betrayers would be confronted with soon.

The blonde-haired young man smiled a self-satisfied and downright malicious smile as he thought about the first blow they'd deliver to the Tendos. It was so simple, yet this simplicity made it so beautiful; Happosai would present the Tendos and Saotomes with his new heir, whom would be none other than Felicia. The cover-story for this would be simple.

After failing to bail out his prized and innocent student – Happosai had insisted on rubbing in the innocent part – the heartbroken Grandmaster had trudged through New York City, only to stumble upon a young woman who single-handedly defeated a gang of muggers using advanced Martial Arts. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he'd addressed Felicia without his usual perverseness, learning that she was self-taught, her knowledge based off of a few scrolls she had found long ago.

Upon hearing her story of how she'd been date-raped and how she'd rediscovered the scrolls in the attic – the scrolls in question turning out to be Anything Goes school scrolls, much to Happosai's astonishment – the Grandmaster had then challenged her to an evaluation fight, and he'd liked what he'd seen. So much so that he'd chosen to train her as his new heir.

The uproar this'd cause amongst the residents of the Tendo-ke would be of epic proportions, and it was safe to assume that they would try their hardest to contest Happosai's choice. Not that they would actually be able to do much of anything seeing as they had no handle at all what with Happosai's word being absolute, but for their pre-revenge to have the maximum effect they had consented that _they_ would be allowed to challenge Felicia's claim. The three of them had further speculated that Akane – and likely her new boyfriend, Ryoga – would challenge Felicia for the title of heir to the schools, which was made especially probable by her being an outsider, a Gaijin.

The only remaining hindrance preventing their plan from being set in motion was that Felicia had to have sufficient knowledge about the Nerimans, everything from their strengths and weaknesses to what made them tick and how they'd likely react, but he was confident that she'd have it down pat soon.

Ranma smiled as the image of his girlfriend wiping the floor with the NWC – or at least those who'd betrayed him – popped into his mind and stretched languorously, joints popping. He'd just finished stretching when he heard the door bell ring, and a smile crept on his face. "Felicia must've chosen the traditional way today for a change," he mused to himself, got up and left his study; he quickly made his way to the door and peered through the spy-hole, but whom he found standing outside was not the person he had expected.

A surprised expression on his face Ranma opened the door and beckoned his harried looking guest in. "Come right in, Pete. You look like you had one hell of a day," he said and clapped the older man on the shoulder in sympathy.

Peter sighed as he removed his jacket, throwing it over the clothes tree with little care, "Try six weeks of hell and you're getting close, Ran," he replied and used the moniker they'd agreed upon weeks ago, then Peter walked further inside while Ranma closed the door.

A brow cocked Ranma beckoned Peter to enter the living room, "Make yourself at home and crash on the couch, Pete, I'll be back with some coffee and doughnuts in a few. You know your way around here, so if you wanna hear some music or do something else, just do. Just make yourself at home and relax, you look like you need it."

"Too true, Ran," Peter muttered with a grave nod while Ranma made his way into the kitchen; shortly thereafter the sound of WAXQ's music was reverberating throughout the floor, and Ranma frowned.

For Peter to choose a radio station that primarily played classic rock he had to pretty peeved. Waiting impatiently for the coffee to be finished Ranma fetched two large cups and two small plates from the cupboard that held the crockery and the promised doughnuts from another cupboard, and just when he had placed the dishes and pastries on one of the trays the coffee was finished brewing. Smiling slightly at the synchronicity Ranma grabbed the coffee pot, screwed it down and placed it on the tray as well.

Easily balancing the tray one-handed Ranma quickly walked into the living room where he found Peter lounging on the two-part sofa, a tired expression on his face. Ranma placed the tray on the glass table, placed a dish and a cup in front of Peter and did the same for himself and plopped down on the three-part-sofa. The doughnuts were left in their bag on the tray so that each of them could grab as many as they wanted, and Peter immediately helped himself to a vanilla and a chocolate flavoured doughnut while Ranma poured him – and then himself – a cup of coffee.

Once comfortably seated and adequately supplied Ranma gazed at Peter, who was slowly sipping his coffee. Feeling the younger man's curious gaze upon him the spider-powered man sighed and slunk back into the comfortable cushions of the sofa. "You'll probably want to know why I never showed up for training after week one," he began, and Ranma nodded.

"Yeah. MJ mentioned that you were outta town, but she'd no idea where exactly you'd disappeared to or how long it'd take. And seeing that she excused herself from training shortly after you I'm well outta the loop where your activities are concerned, Pete," Ranma remarked nonchalantly, "So, what happened? MJ didn't say, and she made herself pretty rare," he added, his intent gaze boring into Peter.

"Well, it's a crazy story, but if anyone'll believe it it's probably you, I guess," Peter mused with a weak grin that was mirrored by his counterpart, and took another sip of his coffee.

"It happened as follows… Venom was on the loose again," Peter began with a tired expression, and Ranma scowled darkly, "Yeah, exactly, and he kidnapped my parents, whom you've yet to meet, by the way."

Ranma nearly chocked on his coffee, "He did what? Why am I hearing about that only now?" he demanded, gazing intently at Peter.

The older man held up his hands in a placating gesture, "It happened way too fast to inform you or Felicia, Ran. I just had no time or way to contact you, it was a matter of life or death. It always is where Venom is concerned," he ground out seriously, causing Ranma to nod gravely, "Besides, you can't always be around to help us out, Ran. Even you can't be everywhere at the same time, it's a lesson I'd to learn as well."

Ranma gnashed his teeth but nodded grudgingly, "Point taken, Pete. I've already learned that the hard way as well. Go on," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Peter took another doughnut which he quickly devoured, and then he gobbled down the remains with a large gulp of coffee, "Venom had abducted my parents to 'Thrill World', an abandoned amusement park, and was holding them hostage to lure me out. I had a hard time finding out where he held them though and only succeeded with the help of Ann Weying, Eddie Brock's ex-wife. She gave me some insight into Eddie and what makes him tick, but that's a tale for another time."

"Mmmmh," made Ranma and nodded, "Go on, Pete."

"In a nutshell, I confronted Eddie at Thrill World, we fought, then we fought some more, then some weird guys from Wild Pack crashed the scene," here Ranma raised a brow seeing as neither he nor Felicia had been contacted by Silver Sable, "and we, yeah, Venom and me, knocked them out.

"Eddie and I continued to fight, and to be honest, even with the week of training under you he owned me. He almost killed me hadn't it been for a Wild Pack member hitting Brock with a hefty dose of sonics, but that the man said 'Good thing our contracts say dead or alive,' left me in an icy rage. But I was too weak from the fight with Brock, and hadn't it been for Ann knocking that asshole out from behind Brock'd likely be dead.

"Brock was then about to finish what he started," Peter continued after taking another large gulp from his cup, "namely finishing me when Ann started yelling at him, and I just remember bits and pieces due to being half unconscious. She said something to the effect that she couldn't believe she defended him so he could then kill me and ran away, likely to get help. But then the Ferris wheel – which had been severely damaged in the fights – began to fall towards Ann! Brock managed to catch it, but it was plain as daylight that he was too weak to support its weight. Scraping up my last reserves I helped Brock, and together we were strong enough to push that darn wheel back over," Peter said and paused to guzzle down some coffee.

"I bet that wasn't the end of story, though," Ranma commented and placed his cup on the table for a refill and left the steaming hot cup on the table.

Peter smiled tiredly and mirrored Ranma's actions before nodding, "Brock was then about to attack me again, and that was when Ann really laid into him. Can't believe how brave that lady was, but she managed to talk sense into him. As of then Eddie and I have a deal, stating that he won't go after me and I won't go after him. Having no other choice I agreed, seeing as it was the best I could make out of a bad situation. Brock then hitched a ride on a passing helicopter, and my attempt to track him through one of my tracers failed as his symbiote destroyed it.

"I checked up on my parents later that night with Aunt May to make sure they were okay, and luckily they were. I learned later on that the copter Brock had used to get away was found in Pennsylvania, but there was no trace of Venom. But that's hardly the tip of the iceberg of what happened in the last few weeks, Ran," Peter concluded with a wary sigh and sunk back into the cushions after taking a tentative sip from his cup.

Ranma, who'd been a good audience in that he'd made the appropriate noises where required, gave Peter an incredulous look and shook his head in amusement, slowly sipping his own cup of coffee, "Tip of the iceberg, huh? Now I'm really curious, Pete. What happened then?" he asked and leaned back into the cushions, gaiety bubbling up inside of him that another could have a life just as chaotic as his own.

"You're curious, huh? Well, then I'm sure I won't disappoint my ever so inquisitive audience with the following," Peter said almost theatrically, quirking a small grin that quickly gave way to a serious expression. "Well, it won't come as a surprise I didn't trust Brock, well, not further than I can throw him, which ain't far even with my powers considering his symbiote wouldn't even let me throw him in the first place. Turns out Brock had found his way to San Francisco. I learned of that through my contacts and headed out to check up on him in case he was up to his old tricks.

"So far, so good. But I wasn't the only one hunting for Brock. Turns out the Jury, a group of Mercenaries who want to punish Brock for his crimes, wanted to get him too. Funny thing is, none of us succeeded seeing that a third party was faster. Carlton Drake, an unscrupulous business man and head of a shady organisation called the L.I.F.E. Foundation managed to trick and capture Eddie, and that was when the shit hit the fan.

"They had somehow found out about your symbiote and that Venom had spawned, and they carted him off to the Mojave desert where they maintained a large research complex. There they went about forcibly extracting the last remaining symbiote seeds out of the symbiote so that they could have their own symbiotes at their beck and call. This whole organisation was a bunch of weirdoes who believed that the end of the Cold War would bring about the mutually assured destruction of the world as we know it, and they had built shelters for their super-rich clients. These symbiotes, bonded to humans of their choice, should become the guardians of their 'Utopia'."

Ranma cocked a brow at this, his expression incredulous and worried, "More symbiotes, and under the control of these doomsday weirdoes? Just great. What happened then?"

"I ran into one of their 'Guardians' at a small shopping mall near Salinas, California, by pure coincidence. Was searching for Venom's trail, and it was my lucky day, as it turned out. Well, to make a long story short, I fought the 'Guardian', a female, by the way, and it became obvious to me pretty fast that she was as inexperienced as they come where it came to the usage of her powers. Sure, she caused a lot of property damage and was stronger than me, not to mention that she'd all of your weapon-forming abilities, but I managed to outfight her due to my greater experience.

"She quickly realised that she was no match for me as well and radioed back to her base to pick her up, and threw a civilian out one of the windows to cover her escape. I was able to save the man and hitched a ride on the hovercraft that had picked the woman up. My getting into the base didn't go unnoticed, though, and I was up to my neck in symbiote-clad 'Guardians' in no time, five in total. I was forced to team up with Eddie who'd been separated from his symbiote by the Life Foundations' higher ups, and we managed to hold 'em five Guardians' off long enough for Eddie to rebond with his symbiote.

"Brock then used a dirty trick to get rid of the symbiotes," Peter ground out and gnashed his teeth. "He'd watched the scientists operate the machine that had matured the symbiotes at a much quicker rate than normal and had memorised how to do it, then he used the machine against the 'Guardians'. The hosts survived without exception, but the symbiotes were turned to dust. The higher ups of the Life Foundation then activated an auto-destruct sequence and blew up the whole complex to cover their tracks, and that was the end of story.

"All of that left a bitter taste in my mouth, Ran. 'course, the 'Guardians' attacked us first and seemed to be aligned with the 'dark side of the force', to borrow an expression from Star Wars," Peter said with a small grin, Ranma mirroring him seeing as Peter had introduced him to the Trilogy during their first week of training, "but I don't believe they were evil. Brock just offed them anyway, destroying any chance they might've had. It just… makes me angry."

Ranma helped himself to a doughnut, which he quickly devoured, a thoughtful expression playing on his face while he gobbled down the remains with a large gulp of coffee, "I think he did it for strategic reasons. These new symbiotes – much like my own – are more advanced than his due to them having been spawned on Earth. He likely felt threatened and compelled by his symbiote to get rid of the threats, permanently," he mused, and held up a hand to forestall Peter's objections, "I know what you wanna say, and I don't condone Brocks' behaviour in any way or form, rather the opposite. That was just my take on why Venom may have acted the way he did."

Peter visibly deflated, "You're probably right, Ran. Sorry for wanting to tear off your head, but these last weeks have been… taxing."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one," chuckled Ranma, an ironic smile on his face, "And believe me, I'm _the _master of understatements."

Peter chuckled wryly, "Yeah, you've proven that alright. Say, you up for a swing across town? I really need some stress relief, and MJ's sleeping on the sofa. Felicia could join us once she gets here," he suggested, still holding his cup with both hands.

Ranma considered Peter's suggestion and then his face lit up, "You know, why don't we combine that swing across town with a visit at Dr. Strange's? I've wanted to get his expert opinion on my 'affliction' for weeks now, but without you vouching for me I hardly thought it reasonable. Now, though..."

Peter nodded, then a grin spread on his face, "Aww, was the big bad Ran afraid Doc Strange would blast his ass with a spell?" he teased, brows raised mockingly.

Ranma cocked a brow in a perfect Spock manoeuvre and said wryly, "Good to see you're in better spirits now, Pete. To answer your question anyway, yeah, I didn't fancy being blasted by magic due to my being a symbiote host. You know 'bout my... bad experiences with magic. Don't trust that stuff further than I can throw it, and seeing that I can't-" he trailed off with a shrug.

"Point made, Ran. I've had some strange encounters with magic as well, so I can understand where you're coming from," Peter commented, then his previously serious face sported a boyish grin, "I'll help the big bad Ran not get his ass fried."

Ranma looked not amused, but then he was struck by inspiration, "You better, Felicia happens to like my ass. Guess what happens when she finds out you were responsible for her boyfriend's marvellous backside getting fried?"

"You two an item now?" asked Peter in mild surprise, unsure of how he should feel about the possibility; on the one hand he was married to a gorgeous woman who supported him in any possible way, on the other hand Felicia was a woman he'd been seriously involved with for quite some time and whom he wished the best. But then... "Couldn't have happened to a nicer couple, except for MJ and me, of course," he quickly added, causing Ranma to grin.

"I'll have you know-" he began, only to trail off and swivel his head in unison with Peter at the muffled thump from upstairs; both men got up from their respective sofa absolutely soundlessly and in startling synchronicity, nodded at each other once, and Peter, the physically weaker of the two, closed the blinds, allowing Ranma to bring out his combat suit sans face-mask.

Fully immersed in combat mode Ranma activated his cloaking abilities and soundlessly made his way to the staircase after silently closing the living room door, Peter staying in the living room hanging from the ceiling as backup.

"Honey, I'm home!" a female voice shouted from upstairs, and the patter of feet could be heard seconds thereafter.

An almost inaudible sigh of relief escaped Ranma as he dropped the invisibility techniques and shimmered back into existence. At first he considered leaning casually against the handrail but decided against it seeing that the descending Felicia had already caught sight of the combat suit. "Were you expecting someone else?" she queried with a delicate silver brow arched, "Venom, perchance?"

"Nah, he's somewhere around Frisco, dear," Ranma replied dismissively, his answer causing the other silvery brow to climb into the hairline as well, "It's just that we heard a noise from upstairs-"

"We?" interrupted Felicia with a small measure of suspicion added in to her curiosity as she made her way down the staircase, coming to a stop in front of Ranma, "Who's we?"

"The who is Peter. He stopped by half an hour ago and brought me up to speed on his misadventures of the last month," Ranma replied casually, causing Felicia to mouth, "Misadventures?" to which he nodded, "Yeah, almost as bad as one of mine. That reminds me, Pete, you can stop hanging out, the coast's clear. It's Felicia."

An almost inaudible thump from the living room was the only indication that someone else was in the flat, then the glass door was opened and out stepped Peter Parker. "Hi, Felicia. Good it's you and not some maniac out to get us, I really ain't in the mood for fighting another weirdo."

Ranma scoffed emphatically, "No wonder after the shit you went through, Pete," he said and clapped the older man on the shoulder, "But I'd say another round of story-telling's in order before we leave-"

"Whoa, hold your horses, guys. Story-telling, leaving, what?" queried Felicia, looking from Peter to Ranma, "I feel kinda out of the loop here."

Ranma smiled and gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek, "Then let's bring you up to speed," he said and led her to the living room.

-.-

Half an hour and several coffees and pastries later Felicia had indeed been brought up to speed, her reaction to Peter's story having been the same as Ranma's. But while she was angry at Brock for simply killing the symbiotes instead of giving them a chance she could also see the value in the truce between Peter and Brock as it meant one less headache for them as well.

Now the trio was standing on the rooftop of Ranma's flat, all set and ready to leave for Doctor Strange's abode, which, as Ranma had learned, was located at 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. While quite a distance away from Ranma's flat it'd nevertheless be a stone's throw for them considering their travelling speeds.

The air of the late April evening was cold and clear, and Ranma, much as the others, took a deep breath, enjoying the freshness of the air up here twenty metres above ground level. A small smile made its way on Ranma's face as he regarded the skyline, his blue eyes fixed on the sunset that bestowed on them a picturesque nightfall.

Ranma grabbed Felicia's right hand on impulse and gave it a squeeze, causing the woman to look up at him with what he was sure was a smile before leaning into him. His left arm snaked around her waist automatically and pulled her close.

Peter briefly swivelled his head to look at them and shook his head in what was likely amusement, and Ranma's smiled widened. It was a wonderful evening, almost romantic even considering the scenery, and the icing on the cake was that there wasn't even a hint of a rain cloud on the horizon – much as the weather forecast had promised – which suited Ranma just fine.

The last few days had been quite rainy which had consequently resulted in quite a few appearances of the 'Spider-Kitties' as Felicia had dubbed them once, but tonight Ranma really wanted to arrive at Doctor Strange's in male form for a change; he had some guy time to catch up to after all. Another variable that factored into his want to stay male lay therein that it was always more fun to see peoples' eyes go wide in surprise when he changed into his female form, and he was looking forward to finding out if Doctor Strange would be an exception.

The encroaching darkness of the late evening made them less and less visible, and when nightfall had set in fully Ranma let go of Felicia's hand. He nodded at her and Peter who both nodded back, and then they jumped off the building as one, each spider-powered individual performing several daring somersaults before they fired their webbing.

The pace they set wasn't as fast as Ranma would have liked seeing that he would have been able to travel considerably faster, but he had to be considerate of his friends' lesser travelling speed; they were still fast enough to make the streets pass by in a blur, though, and he grinned behind his face-mask as he hung back to watch his girlfriend move about.

She was quite apparently enjoying herself as she swung down the Avenue of the Americas, and aside from her being poetry in motion as she moved about in her skin-tight black costume she showed a great deal of improvement in her martial arts.

Felicia's movements were a lot more fluid as he was certain Peter had noted as well. "Hey Spidey, with a few weeks of training we'll get you up to speed as well," Ranma exclaimed casually as he fired his webbing alongside his friend.

Spider-Man turned his head and inclined it as they changed course and swung down the Broadway to get to Fifth Avenue, "Wouldn't say no to that, Chaos. She has improved greatly, and not just due to SD," he commented and sounded genuinely impressed.

The symbiote-clad young man regarded Felicia who was swinging some distance ahead of them with a proud smile, "That she has, Pete, and I'm really proud of her," he replied and smiled behind his face-mask.

"As you should be," Peter returned seriously, "I-"

He interrupted himself when they crossed the 53rd Street, and Ranma, just as much as Peter and obviously Felicia felt their spider senses tingle. The blonde-haired young man of the team had time to raise a brow behind his facemask before the southward wall of the Museum of Modern Arts twenty metres below seemed to explode outward, the trio stopping their swing at a moments notice to descend on a nearby building.

"Why does it always have to be museums or banks?" Ranma complained silently as he waited for the dust to settle.

Peter, who was crouched to his right scoffed, "cause it's money for old rope," he replied, causing Ranma to cock a brow in confusion due to him being unfamiliar with the expression.

— _**He means it is easy money, Ranma,**_ — spoke up Sym, — _**and I tend to agree. Any sufficiently powerful individual with a pertinent mindset can easily steal priceless art treasures or 'withdraw' money by 'breaking' the bank.**_ —

**'Thanks, my resident idiom expert,'** teased Ranma to which he received the mental equivalent of a raspberry, and replied verbally, "Can say that again, Spidey. Wonder who the philistine is..."

"We'll know soon," Felicia spoke up from his left, "Can't be much longer until visibility returns."

The dust hadn't yet settled and was still hanging heavily in the air, though, and to anyone else – provided even a single passers by would've stayed in the area – the cause of the commotion wouldn't have been more than a blurry, hulking figure.

To Felicia and Ranma the perpetrator became increasingly more visible, and he felt Felicia tense beside him. Peter had identified the perpetrator as well, and it was obvious from his posture that he was far from happy, "Damn, that's Rhino, and from how filled these sports bags look I'd say he made a big haul," he whispered, Felicia nodding as well, and Ranma blinked when a torrent of information was dumped into his mind.

"Shit, that might take a while considering how thick his hide is, not to mention his strength level," Ranma cursed, his face darkening unseen behind his face-mask, "Why is it that there's always some kind of strange shit happening when I have plans?"

"Karma, hon?" suggested Felicia with a shrug and stroked his back.

Ranma grumbled something unintelligible and snorted, "Probably, 'licia. I'm quite sure I'm the universe's spittoon or something," he groused, and thought to himself, **'So that's what Rhino can do, eh? Very interesting, but 'licia should be able to take him anyway. He's as dumb as a piece of bread,'** before another disturbance occurred.

Rhino, who had in the meantime gathered his bearings, turned his head to look at the museum to his immediate right the same as Peter, Ranma and Felicia, an identical look of confusion adorning his face seeing that the heavy wooden entrance doors of the Craft Museum had been blown to smithereens. Moments later a man donning a green and yellow lightning themed costume literally strode out of the building, a long, spear-like object held in his left hand.

"Shit! Electro!" Peter breathed and shook his head, "Damn, that could be bad."

Down on the street annoyance and anger flashed over Rhino's face as he recognised the newcomer, and he audibly gnashed his teeth before yelling, "Dillon, whad da hell ya be doin' here? This be my robbery!"

— _**Electro,**_ — Sym informed his host, — _**also known as Max Dillon. This man is extremely dangerous as in that he can generate electrostatic energy through his body at a rate of about 1,000 volts per minute, and store up to 1,000,000 volts. At ten feet, his maximum charge is more than enough to kill a normal man. Electro can also employ his electrostatic energy as lightning arcs from his fingertips at 1,100 feet per second for about 100 feet, which does make for a very lethal attack. That output would be almost enough to shock even us, but even if it would not overly harm us I do not recommend exposure.**_

— _**If that does not impress you, he can override any electrically-powered device and manipulate it to his will with mental commands. The only upside lies in his low intelligence level which renders him quite unimaginative where a more creative use of his powers is concerned. My advice: take him down hard and fast,**_ — the symbiote concluded urgently.

Ranma had narrowed his eyes during the briefing, his blue orbs not leaving Max Dillon. The man in question, a moderately tall Caucasian of about 1,70 metres with glinting blue eyes turned his head to look at Rhino, a look of surprise mixed with confusion on his face, "Rhino? Whatcha yelling 'bout a robbery? I've got zero interest in what ya been up to, so don't get your boxers in a twist! I've just hit jackpot!" he retorted and held up the long, three-pronged spear in his left hand.

"Jackpot, eh? That's good for ya. I ain't been in da mood for a fight anyway so I knocked all o' 'em guards silly. No ones gonna call 'em cops or other bugs, so I be askin' outta interest, what's that ya holdin' there?" Rhino asked and nodded his head towards the spear.

**'That's what I'd like to know as well,'** thought three hidden crime-fighters as they continued to observe from the shadows.

A grin appeared on Electro's face, "That's Gungnir, Odin's spear. It's amongst the only things that can kill him, and also Thor, and it never misses its target. 'em stupid museum schnooks had no idea what they'd under their noses all along. Prolly thought it a phoney, heh. Me thought getting my hands on it might gain me some clout with Loki," the super villain said boastfully.

Twenty metres above, Ranma, Peter and Felicia shared a troubled look, and the blonde whispered, "We gotta engage 'em, regardless if that's a phoney or not," just before Rhino replied, "Bah, magics and stuff ain't fer me, but I wish ya luck. Da world could do without some of 'em gods, feh."

Peter and Felicia nodded right back in reply to what Ranma had said, and he quickly laid out his battle strategy, "I'll take on Electro, you stomp Rhino into the ground, 'licia. Pete, you're our backup. Don't argue, that's 'licia's first real opportunity to test herself, and Rhino's just volunteered as her practise dummy. Let's go!"

Peter grudgingly nodded his head and made move to bring himself into position just as Electro inclined his head, the look in his eyes clearly saying he wouldn't need luck when a whistling noise caught his attention. He had just the time to look up and jump backwards before the figure of Chaos dropped to the ground not unlike an anvil, and spider-web cracks permeated the sidewalk where he had landed.

Ranma got out of his crouch smoothly, and before Max Dillon had had the chance to overcome his surprise he had blurred forward and decked the man across the face. He briefly looked at his itching right fist that had delivered the punch and frowned, "Tingly," he commented, "which means,"

— _**He had enough time to charge himself and is most likely still game. I suggest you play to his major weakness instead of going for the brute force approach. His maximum output of a million volt would test even my structural integrity,**_ — Sym cautioned.

**'Understood. Ain't it good that we've got a recollection of Spidey's fights? I almost feel bad for him,'** Ranma thought back with an evil gleam in his eyes.

— _**It is beneficial, yes, but it will not be of use if you do not stop playing around,**_ — Sym retorted.

**'Explain,'** Ranma replied while he watched Electro sail backwards through the air, electricity coursing around him.

— _**You do want to protect your mate to the utmost of your abilities, do you not? Of course you do. I would have brought this to your attention sooner, but figured a fight would be best suited,**_ — Sym said, — _**Ranma, I recognised an alarming pattern in all your previous fights, one that will cost us dearly in the future if you keep it up: you talked too much where you should have acted, and it allowed the Wizard to escape, for example. Regardless of what Peter's wife says, less talk and more disposing of enemies like Electro is required, or they might just take it out of Felicia's hide. **_

— _**Max Dillon is a very dangerous and very powerful man who has shown in the past that he is willing to kill. Need I say more?**_ — Sym concluded, finishing with that virtual killing blow.

There was nothing but silence from Ranma's end for several heartbeats, then the young man audibly gnashed his teeth, **'Gotcha, Sym, gotcha,'** he retorted and forced himself back to reality in time to see a fully charged Electro rebound from a wall twenty metres away.

Max Dillon aka Electro casually landed on his feet and leaned the spear against the housewall, a mocking smirk playing on his face, electrostatic energy coursing around his body in an impressive display of power. "Yet another fool that thinks he's a Spider-Man wannabe, eh? Well, ya should've stayed at home 'n' played with your action figures, rookie!" he taunted, and instantly lightning arcs were launched from his fingertips at high speeds, "Let's see how ya like being roasted like a pig!" Electro cackled gleefully.

Instead of answering Ranma winked out of existence which caused the electrostatic energy to sail harmlessly through the air, and Max Dillon had the time to blink in confusion before he was hit by a jackhammer to the ribs.

The super-villain doubled over in pain and had the time to look up at Chaos who was looming over him, "I'm more than just a wannabe, Dillon, I'm the next generation and the last thing you'll ever see," he ground out in a cold tone and formed a long sword on his right arm, causing Electro's eyes to widen in fear, "End game."

Faster than Electro could see Ranma ploughed his arm into the super-villains chest in a blurring motion, but instead of collapsing to the ground as expected Electro's body suddenly vanished in a display of electrostatic energy, making Ranma raise a brow. "What the heck was that?" he muttered to himself and stared at the blackened spot on the ground.

— _**I have no conclusive data on the phenomenon we just witnessed, Ranma. It is as unexplainable to me as it is to you, but it would be wise to be on your guard. He underestimated you, it would be foolish of us to be as arrogant,**_ — Sym spoke up, and Ranma felt the same frustration he was feeling himself reverberate in Sym's mental voice.

**'Right, Sym. But honestly, from your description of him I'd expected more of a fight outta him,'** Ranma complained as he slowly walked towards where Gungnir was leant against the housewall, his senses stretched out to the maximum.

— _**With Electro being unable to hit you with his attacks due to your speed you were the worst imaginable opponent for him, and he made the mistake to not take you seriously. That you hit him hard and fast and did not offer him a chance to retaliate sealed his defeat. **_

— _**That you took him down so quickly is a course of action I recommend for all your upcoming fights, regardless if that is satisfying or not. In the end only survival counts, and the fittest shall prevail, —**_ Sym retorted, his voice serious.

With a grumble and the mental comment that the fight had sucked just the same the vigilant crime-fighter bent down and picked up Gungnir. Keeping his guard up as Sym had suggested Ranma made his way to the other battle site, hoping that his girlfriend had a more satisfying fight.

-.-

Felicia watched her boyfriend's descent and smiled at the bewildered expression Electro sported when Ranma decked him full force, but the fact that Rhino shook himself out of his stupor and made move to join the fight forced the spider-powered woman to throw herself into the fray before the pachyderm could.

The silver-haired woman allowed herself the brief lull her jump from the building brought about to revel in her powers, and when she landed on the sidewalk in front of a surprised Rhino she hardly even felt the impact and got out of the mini-crater she had made. "Hey you pachyderm, your fight's with me!" she called out, making a come hither motion with her right hand while her left hand was planted on her hip.

She was almost amused when Rhino slapped his forehead, "Where be all 'em insects comin' from?" the heavily armoured man grumbled in annoyance and fixed his dark eyes on Felicia, "Me no cares if ya be a gal, am gonna smack ya silly anyway. Fuckin' insects annoy da hell outta me!"

That declaration made Rhino charged like a bull, his intent obviously lying therein to knock Felicia out via a direct hit. Too bad for him that the black-clad woman had no intentions to play fair and jumped five metres upward from her former standing position and somersaulted above the man instead.

Felicia whirled around faster than the eye could track and immediately fired her webbing from both hands before Rhino even had the chance to turn around, and acting quickly she used the web lines to smash the heavily armoured man into the side of the Craft museum.

"Oops," she commented as Rhino made a new breakthrough due to the excess kinetic energy of the throw, "Guess that was a wee bit too much, but the building's gonna need a thorough renovation anyway."

"RAAAAAR!" a pissed off voice yelled right before another section of the already damaged wall exploded outward, and out came a wildly charging Rhino.

**'He's going for the brute-force approach again. Hmm, doesn't seem he's capable of learning at all,'** Felicia mused as she fired a full load of webbing at Rhino's head from both hands, stopping the man's charge in its tracks.

Using Rhino's momentarily disabled state as he tried to pry off the offending webbing Felicia charged forward and jumped upward, her right foot lashing out in mid-jump and connecting solidly with the armoured man's right ribcage. The grunting super-villain was lifted off his feet and crashed through another section of wall, but this time around Felicia gave chase and jumped through the dust cloud Rhino had kicked up.

Her spider-sense flared as she landed in the first floor of the Craft Museum and she threw herself to the side as her training had taught her, easily avoiding the massive fist that passed her by harmlessly. Jumping upward Felicia clung to the ceiling and was tempted to form her 'monster visage' to taunt and confuse the man and fired another salvo of webbing, this time trapping the man's feet.

— _**Using intimidation tactics is a sound idea, Felicia. The fact that Rhino disabled the security including the cameras connotes that we are as safe as can be. Have fun,**_ — SD spoke up, and Felicia felt her face-mask shift about.

The trapped Rhino suddenly stopped his struggles and stood there gaping, "What da hell you be?" he asked in a flabbergasted manner, "Ya don't be a normal bug!"

Felicia grinned widely, and she knew from experience and posing in front of the mirror just what an effect her 'monster visage' had. "This 'bug' is your worst nightmare, pachy. 'cause I ain't some nice li'l spider like Spidey, I don't pull my punches," she exclaimed and jumped downwards, landing right in front of the yet again struggling Rhino.

Springing up from the low crouch she had landed in Felicia used her momentum to nail Rhino with a crushing uppercut to the chin, and the force of the blow was so great that the super villain was catapulted down the whole length of the first floor, ending up embedded in the far wall.

The black clad woman admired her handiwork and grinned behind her face-mask, "Now whose gonna knock who silly, asshole? Ya look like a bug stuck to a damn windshield ta me," she taunted, only to start in surprise when Rhino lifted his head and himself out of the wall.

"Gotta admit ya pack a mean wallop, gal, but that ain't nothin' ta me. Ma hide's much thicker than that," Rhino stated and popped his joints.

Felicia's eyes narrowed behind her face-mask and she gathered her ki as Happosai and Ranma had taught her, "Is that so? Well, that just means I've finally found someone I don't hafta hold back against," she exclaimed and brought her hands forward, "Ultima Blades!" she yelled, and several vacuum blades of her own variety sped at Rhino at a fast clip.

The grey-skinned super-villain showed surprise for several seconds before an arrogant smirk spread on his face, "Sista, do ya really think that's even gonna tickle me? Hah, me hide's-"

A grin spread on Felicia's face when Rhino interrupted himself to cry out in pain as the vacuum blades hit home, and blood gushed out of several large gashes the blades had induced. "For some reason these come to me a lot easier than the blasted Umi techniques," she said and shrugged, "And I like the results better."

— _**Pay more attention to your enemy, Felicia. He is far from being out of the game, and if I read him correctly he is more than just a bit pissed off,**_ — SD warned.

SD's warning turned out to be to the point as Rhino charged head on like a wounded animal, and only Felicia's quick reflexes allowed her to somersault over and above the injured man. Gritting her teeth she summoned her energy and fired her own version of the Moko Takabisha at Rhino's back.

The energy attack threw the heavy-set man forward at an alarming rate and Rhino was thrown face-first through yet another section of the already much abused ground-floor wall, and the momentum generated by the energy blast carried Rhino for almost fifty metres until he smacked face-first into another house wall, ending up deeply embedded in the thick wall.

Felicia didn't waste a second and sprinted after the man, and upon coming within five metres of the impact site she fired salvo after salvo of webbing, SD making the substance as strong as possible to make it impossible for the villain to escape.

Finally, after ten seconds of continuous fire Felicia deemed her efforts sufficient, and a smile made its way on her face, "That's whatcha get for underestimating me, loser. Now yer tied up like a Christmas present, just as I like my villains," she purred, and let her face-mask assume its normal form, her hands planted on her hips.

"Very nice work," commented a familiar male voice from behind, and Felicia felt her waist being encircled from behind by her boyfriend's strong arm, his left hand being placed on her abdomen while his right was brought to the front, holding Gungnir.

Felicia smiled and leaned into Ranma. "Thanks, hon. And what's that, a present for me?" she queried in a cute tone, "Aww, ya shouldn't have!"

"Down, girl, that's not the present I'd in mind for you, even though it's also of the phallic variety," Ranma retorted with a smirk audible in his voice.

Felicia laid her right index finger to where her lips where under the mask and pretended to be thinking hard before exclaiming, "Oh, that's not too bad then."

"Just for that you're gonna walk bow-legged for the next two days," Ranma muttered to himself and cleared his throat, fixing his girlfriend with a mock-glare which he signified by inclining his head, "Do you really think they," he pointed his thumb at the Craft Museum, "would let you keep it after the way you roughed up their building?"

"Err, yeah?" Felicia quipped innocently, and could just imagine the expression on Ranma's face, cocked brows and all, "Okay, probably not."

"Definitely not," Ranma said with an amused shake of his head, "Now let's call the authorities and-"

"No need to, Chaos," Peter spoke up from above from where he was adhering to the wall, "I made the call as soon as our Black Spider here had finished tying up Rhino like a parcel. I also tipped them off 'bout Gungnir, which means the Avengers or FF4 will take care of it."

"Great, Spidey," replied Ranma with a nod.

Felicia whereas inclined her head in thought, "Black Spider, eh?" she mused, "I like it."

"Thanks, Spidey," Ranma replied with a nod and turned to Felicia, "The name's... fitting, hon. Maybe you should keep that look as well," he commented.

Felicia stopped to think for a few moments, "Maybe. People have seen me in this garb anyway, and thus no one'd know that the Black Cat's the Black Spider," she mused.

"Exactly. Now let's do some ki-exercises while we've got to pass the time," Ranma suggested, his suggestion more of a veiled command.

Groans were his answer, and Ranma grinned behind his facemask. Some days, being a slave driver was fun.

-.-

In contrast to what one would have expected the last thirty minutes hadn't been dull or boring at all in between the ki-exercises and the inevitable interview with the cops. To Ranma, the talk with the cops had once more emphasised how important having allies was, for Peter had gone out of his way to vouch for Felicia and him. And seeing that Peter's popularity with the cops was at an acceptable level his word held enough sway.

Ranma almost chuckled out loud as he recalled the surprised faces of the cops, two Caucasians in their mid-thirties, one male, one female, when they'd arrived on the scene to witness him juggling several pairs of tennis-ball sized ki-balls, eight in total while Felicia was starting on three; Peter, who'd yet to work on the basic principles of how to utilise his ki had just listened as Ranma had explained how to do the exercises to him.

The cops had been gobsmacked, and had treated him with a healthy amount of respect upon learning that that what they'd witnessed hadn't been a mutant ability, but an advanced manipulation of one's own physical energies; their initial disbelief at his claim had been wiped away when Felicia had demonstrated the same-self ability to form a visible ball of ki, and the officers had to give it to her when she'd said that it was statistically improbable that she'd have the same mutant powers as Chaos.

Spider-Man had then brought forward the verbal icing on the cake by suggesting they, the officers, should meet at least him again in four weeks time where he'd show them the same-self ability. An ability he did not yet possess and had never possessed, an argument that was made easily believable by his claim that if he'd had this power he'd already have used it to save more innocents. Needless to say, the cops had seen the logic and had agreed, and after reinforcements had been called in from the vault and after they'd ensured that Rhino was still good and well trapped the trio had taken their leave.

Half an hour later they could be found high above New York's streets, finally approaching Doctor Strange's domicile. Ranma and Felicia let Spider-Man take the lead seeing that the arachnid hero had often been a guest of the Sorcerer Supreme in the past and knew his way around the magic users' abode.

Ranma arched a curious brow when the Victorian-style three-story townhouse at 177a Bleecker Street finally came into view, and he and Felicia followed Peter's lead when the spider-powered man adhered to the wall above a row of three large, arch-shaped windows at the front side of the house. Hanging upside down from the wall Peter knocked on the middle window, which was opened surprisingly quickly.

Looking upwards at his friends Peter explained, "He has it specially charmed," and added, "'sides, anything the Doc does is mystic and above us 'mere mortals'," making mocking air quotes.

"Now, now, a bit more respect for the mystical arts, if you please, or I might just have to turn you into a toad," a male voice spoke up teasingly, and a tall man looking to be in his forties with raven hair and greying temples stepped into view, "All joking aside, come right in, all."

"Thanks, Doc," Spider-Man replied and used his powers to jump into the room that he knew to be the living room, Ranma and Felicia following suit after expressing their gratitude for allowing them entry, the former's gaze lingering on Earth's supposedly most powerful magic user.

**'His attire's strange enough,'** Ranma thought as he landed nimble-footed in the living room, Felicia beside him, **'The black pants are kinda normal, but that strange symbol on that... shirt or whatever it is, and then the cloak... And gauging from the interior and the feel of that room there might just be something to Peter's memories and claims.'**

Now with all of them being inside the Sorcerer Supreme closed the window with a gesture – a feat that caused Ranma to raise a brow in interest – and turned around, waving his left hand at the arm-chairs, "Please take a seat," he said, and started to hover in mid-air himself seeing that there were only three chairs and a low stool in the room.

Ranma's objections that he'd rather be standing died on his lips seeing the display, and his curiosity as to what this Sorcerer Supreme could do grew. "Thanks," he replied and did as suggested, Felicia and Peter having done the same.

Once comfortably seated Dr. Strange let his gaze wander from Spider-Man to Ranma, coming finally to rest upon Felicia. "Miss Hardy, I must express my surprise at seeing you in a Spider-Man themed costume, not to mention the fact that you now seem to possess spider powers. There must be an interesting tale behind this," he exclaimed and stroked his chin, amusement glinting in his green eyes.

"How…" began a shocked Felicia, who hadn't expected to be found out this quickly, "Damn, magic sure's handy."

"That it is, Miss Hardy. Even though you seem to have gained new powers due to interesting means," his scrutinising gaze lingered upon her costume, "your aura remains the same. So, what is the story behind this, and if I may inquire, the reason to your visit?"

"That's better explained by me, sir," Ranma spoke up, "And I fear it'll take some time to tell my tale and why we're here."

Doctor Strange waved his hand dismissively, "Time means little if a mystery is to be solved, and I've always been fond of interesting and strange tales, if you pardon the fun.

"Wong," he called, and a tall Asian man clad in traditional black servant's uniform seemed to appear out of nowhere, "Please be so kind and serve us some tea and biscuits," he said, and looked at his guests, "Tea's okay for you, isn't it?"

"Of course," assured his three guests.

Wong inclined his head and left soundlessly, prompting Ranma to comment, "He's good, very good. At least Master level in the Art."

"Indeed," Doctor Strange commented and eyed Ranma speculatively before continuing, "I'm glad I'm backed up by him seeing as he saved me on several occasions, and I could hardly wish for a better friend. But now to you… I'm very curious to hear your tale."

Ranma inclined his head and let his face-mask fade away, the combat suit forming a collar below the neckline; this time around Felicia didn't protest as it had been agreed upon in advance that he'd take this course of action, and the young man almost smiled as she followed his example suit, revealing her face. "My real name was Ranma Saotome, and it happened as follows…"

-.-

An hour later, Ranma had told his story in minuscule detail. Felicia and Peter–who had in the meantime removed his mask, seeing that both Dr. Strange and Wong knew his secret identity anyway and that it made drinking tea a lot easier – giving his story backing whenever they felt it was necessary. The ex-Saotome had even reverted back to his part-Japanese birth form and back, which he had deemed necessary despite the immense pain it brought any time he underwent the change.

Through it all Doctor Strange had been completely silent and had reserved his judgement until Ranma had finished, just providing him with the requested cups of warm and cold water to prove that the Jusenkyo curse was indeed real. The Sorcerer Supreme's eyes had widened almost unnoticeably during the demonstration, but his neutral mask had been back in place before anyone had been the wiser.

Now Doctor Stephen Strange let himself float to the ground, coming to rest on the floor in an Indian style sitting position. He turned his head to the right and placed his cup on the wooden floor, then his intense green eyes focusedon Ranma.

The Doctor's face was completely serious as he regarded Ranma intently for a few moments, and then he spoke. "First off, I believe you, Ranma. Every single word," he calmly deliberated, and Ranma almost fell out of his chair in surprise; the tea cup he was holding shook visibly in his hand, and Felicia laid a calming hand on his. "Don't look so surprised, Ranma," the Sorcerer Supreme continued with an amused look that quickly gave way to seriousness, "it is well within my abilities to detect any lies or half-truths, and you weren't lying even once."

"See, Ran, I told you the Doc wouldn't bite," Peter spoke up teasingly, feeling glad for his friend.

"Nah, I only take a bite out of my guests on Sundays," Doctor Strange remarked with a straight face, though his eyes twinkled.

Ranma smiled and noticed Felicia and Peter did as well. "Now isn't it a relief it's Tuesday, Doc," the gender-changing crime-fighter mused in a mock-relieved tone, before turning serious, "All joking aside, thanks. You've no idea how much it means to me that you believe me," he said earnestly, and smiled at Felicia who'd squeezed his hand before looking back at the powerful magic user, "I'd half expected for you to start yellin' at me 'bout how all of what I told you was bogus before you'd start throwing magic spells at me or something."

"In that case, I'm glad to disappoint," Doctor Strange replied with humour, "However, there's hardly anything that can be done about your current situation without careful preparations. I will use the Eye of Agamotto to divine what exactly happened when you were framed, but it'll take time to form strategies."

Ranma inclined his head, "I understand. While it itches me to head out and bash in as many skulls as needed to prove my innocence, I hardly have any satisfying tracks. I mean, I will follow the leads I do have, but it doesn't hurt to have more starting points."

Doctor Strange nodded, his face serious, "Quite right," he commented, then the tall man clapped his hands and got to his feet and walked over to the low leather stool sitting next to the table and plopped down onto it, "And now let's get to the matter of your affliction, Ranma. I noticed from your demonstration that it is a very powerful curse, likely induced by Jusenkyo, am I correct?"

Ranma's eyes shot open in surprise and his respect for Doctor Strange rose another notch, "Yeah, right on the dot, Doc. How'd you know?"

The Sorcerer's brows furrowed, and the man couldn't fully suppress the grimace that was trying to make its way on his face, "Jusenkyo is well known to the magic users of the world as it has given us a lot of headaches. It has resisted countless tries to destroy it, even my own. After none of us magic users could do anything to cleanse the valley we divined that it had to serve a higher purpose. Everything serves a purpose, even Jusenkyo victims receiving their curses, as hard as that may be to accept," he explained, stopping himself from saying more due to the fact that he'd noticed Ranma was itching to say something.

"Err, then I seem to have managed to do what you magic users couldn't," the pony-tailed young man said and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, causing Stephen Strange to cock a brow in interest, "In a nutshell, I fought a very powerful being, Saffron, the Phoenix King at Mt. Phoenix over a year ago. Our fight caused the countless Springs to mix. The Pools of Sorrow are nothing more than a highly cursed soup these days."

"So you were the one who forcibly induced Saffron's rebirth. Remarkable," Doctor Strange commented and stroked his goatee, his face showing respect.

Ranma's face sported a grimace as unwelcome memories of his first kill surfaced, "One could phrase it this way, yeah."

"As I said, a remarkable feat. You causing the mixing of the Pools of Sorrow did however not destroy Jusenkyo or its powers," the Doctor said, making Ranma's eyes go wide in surprise, "We from the Council have Jusenkyo under constant passive surveillance in accordance with our non-interference rules, and investigated almost immediately after the power spike in the area was detected. The Pools were indeed nothing more than a lake full of highly cursed soup when we arrived, with emphasis on _were_. You won't like to know that the Pools reformed within three months time," he explained with a grave look.

Ranma's face darkened, "Three months? Well, shit! But wouldn't that mean..."

"No, Ranma. Water from the Spring of Drowned Man wouldn't negate the curse, rather the opposite," Doctor Strange said with a sad smile, revealing that he knew his onions when it came to Jusenkyo, "The curses would mix, and you can imagine the end result in your case."

Ranma turned decidedly green as the implications hit him, as did his friends, "Ewww, I better not," he muttered and shook his head to shoo away the disturbing images his mind had conjured.

"Couldn't agree more, hon. Some things better remain unthought-of," Felicia agreed and shook her head, the silver-haired woman looking green as well.

"Yeah, there're some things that shouldn't happen to anyone," Peter agreed gravely.

"Indeed," agreed the Sorcerer Supreme sagely, and turned serious eyes on Ranma, "You'll likely have known in your heart that there is no cure for Jusenkyo curses. It is a Class Nine cursed site for a reason; while not outright lethal its magic is well capable of placing its victims in mortal peril to attain its ends."

"No cure," Ranma muttered and bowed his head, surprisingly feeling not very surprised or dejected, "You're right, Doc," he then said and raised his head, locking eyes with the most powerful magic user in the world, "Deep down I expected as much, seeing as all of my foolish quests of the past to turn up the wondrous cure turned up nothing.

"Now, well, I've accepted my female half and can admit that I don't mind being a woman when I'm one, which is also thanks to a very special woman who didn't throw a hissy fit when she found out about my affliction, unlike others," he stopped to smile at Felicia, who smiled back in a way that spoke volumes of how much she cared for her boyfriend, "But what really gets my goat is that _I_ can't decide when I want to be male or female. You know, like waking up in the morning and thinking, Yeah, today's a good day for being male,´. It's that damned water magnet part of it that annoys the hell outta me. Sure, can't avoid rain showers and things like water hoses or sprinklers, but that water literally flows up the house wall to get me is... irksome," he concluded with a heavy sigh.

Felicia squeezed his hand again and Peter and Doctor Strange looked sympathetic. The latter heaved a sigh, "I can imagine," he said and pinched the bridge of his nose as he obviously weighed his options, finally coming to a decision, "Usually Jusenkyo victims are governed by a non-interference directive all magic-users have sworn to uphold, but-"

"I already wanted to ask this question a minute ago, what does this 'non-interference directive' mean?" interrupted Felicia, her green eyes curious and attentive.

Doctor Strange swivelled his head and regarded Felicia with intense green eyes of his own, "We from the Council found out that Jusenkyo's actually a nexus of Chaos magic that only attracts those deserving of the curses because of character traits that are too predominant in them," he explained, his face holding a sad note, "As for why we from the Council do nothing about Jusenkyo, know that who- or whatever created the Pools of Sorrow was a force powerful beyond imagination, and they made sure it could neither be tempered with nor destroyed. Which is why we, the magic users in the world, can do nothing but kick back and watch. Hence the rules of non-interference."

Ranma slowly nodded his head in grudging agreement, "I was always too macho and full of myself for my own good, so the Nyannichuan curse does make sense. Pop's as lazy as the panda he turns into, and Ryoga," he interrupted himself to scowl, "is as pigheaded as the pig he turns into. Shampoo's always been... catty, and the list goes on. So the curse is meant to teach its victims humility, how to overcome their flaws, yeah?"

Doctor Strange steepled his fingers and nodded gravely, "That's the most likely conclusion, Ranma, and one we from the Council arrived at as well. And seeing that most human beings are too set in their ways to truly change they'll be haunted by the curse for the rest of their lives, always fighting it tooth and nail and never succeeding," he elaborated sadly. "This is compounded thereby that once cursed Jusenkyo's victims are placed in situations that make them endure many hardships. The harder they fight the curse, the harder the lives they lead."

"Makes sense," Ranma muttered after considering the magic user's words. "More than anything anyone else has ever told me."

A slight smile crept across the Sorcerer's lips, "Glad to be of service, Ranma. Have you perchance noticed a change in the curse's behaviour after coming to New York, more specifically, after your stint in prison?" he inquired nonchalantly and seemingly out of the blue.

Ranma stopped to think for several moments, his brows furrowing in concentration, before he answered, "As a matter of fact, yeah, I have. After I'd come to accept my female half as part of myself, as me and not a curse a lot less strange shit's happened to me. Sure, I've still got my fair share of chaos, but it's a far cry from what I used to go through in Nerima on a daily basis."

The Sorcerer Supreme nodded sagely, "And that's the crux of the matter. You _accepted_ your 'affliction' as a part of yourself, which cancelled the part of the curse's spell matrix that placed you in dangerous situations. Trust me, that was the best and most mature decision you could have made seeing as there's no way to remove the curse. It integrates fully into every aspect of a person within minutes of getting cursed and never relinquishes its hold of a person. There's just one way to lessen its impact, acceptance," he concluded and sipped his green tea.

Ranma actually sunk back into his armchair and shook his head in wonder, "Is that why I've felt better 'bout my girl side ever since? I mean, nowadays I hardly complain about being a woman when I'm one 'cept when it's that time of the month," he said, and blushed a bit when he realised what he said.

"Most of us loath that time of the month, hon," Felicia commented with an understanding look and squeezed his hand, "But we all bear it."

Doctor Strange smiled when Ranma nodded his head as it compounded the fact that he'd really accepted his affliction, the Sorcerer's gaze coming to rest on Felicia, "It must be advantageous to have a partner who so intimately knows how the other side lives," he commented lightly.

"Oh yeah," Felicia replied with a smile of her own, "Ranma's ability to change makes our relationship...unique. More...satisfying and deeper than it would be without. I love him, I love her, that's all there's to say."

Ranma tried to hide how moved he was, but failed miserably, something that didn't escape Peter's or Doctor Strange's notice. Both politely chose to ignore it, and the Sorcerer Supreme helped himself and Peter to more tea. Taking a sip of his tea the most powerful magic user in the world surveyed the special young man in front of him and came to a decision. "It is usually never done for a Jusenkyo victim and I might get into... a discussion with the Council, but you overcoming one aspect of the curse proves that you're worthy."

Ranma cocked a brow as he clamped down on his emotions viciously and kept his face neutral with slight difficulty seeing as he didn't want to allow himself to feel hope. "Worthy of what, Doc?" he queried carefully.

"As I said, a Jusenkyo curse stays with the victim for life. But there are things that can be done to ease the victims' load, provided he or she has fulfilled certain requirements, and provided the Council agrees, which is usually never the case," the Doctor explained calmly.

"Circumstances such as accepting the curse?" Peter asked, making an educated guess.

"Precisely, Peter. I can't remove the curse, no one can. What I can do for you instead, Ranma, is to remove the part of the curse that makes you a water magnet as well as give you mental control over the change," he explained, making Ranma's eyes go wide, "You'll still be prone to change due to differently temperated water, but you'd be rid of one aspect that does indeed make your affliction a curse."

"Deal," Ranma said instantly, hope now visibly prevalent on his face, "Whatever it takes, I'll do it, Doc."

Doctor Strange laughed, and the fact that it was a pleasant laugh put Ranma at ease, "Ranma, I expect nothing in return. You are a young...individual who has been through much in your short life, and you've faced more hardships than most people face their whole lives. It is said that everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean that the path you travel has to be needlessly rocky."

"To cut a long story short, Ranma's impressed you, Doc, and you want to help him. But trust me, your secret's safe with us 'cause it happens to the best of us," Spider-Man teased good-naturedly.

"Even you, Peter?" queried Doctor Strange with a cocked brow.

Peter grinned impishly in return, "Yeah, even me. If anyone deserves a reprieve from all that shit that's happened to him...her...whatever...it's Ranma. Aside from me, of course," he said seriously, yet a grin appeared on his face towards the end.

"Of course," muttered the Sorcerer Supreme with a twinkle in his eyes, before turning serious eyes on Ranma. "I need to cast a spell on you to dissolve Jusenkyo's bindings, and you need to be female for it so that the trigger of the curse has been activated."

Ranma's blue eyes met the Sorcerer's green orbs with equal seriousness, and he helped himself to a half-filled glass of water that had been left over from the demonstration, quickly dousing himself with the cool water contained therein. A quick adaptation of underwear courtesy of Sym later Ranma got to her feet and planted her hands on her hips as if facing a challenge, her chin thrust forward and her eyes holding a determined expression. "Let's do it, Doc."

Doctor Strange nodded and stood, the serious expression never leaving his face. "Please follow me to the adjoining library," he said and started walking out of the room; Ranma nodded but waited for Felicia to get to her feet as well, and her girlfriend stepped to her side moments later.

The silver-haired woman grasped Ranma's left hand and interlinked hers with the appendage of her lover, a confident smile on her face. "I'm sure you'll pull through, hon."

Ranma reciprocated the smile and nodded. "I always seem to do, dear," she replied without a hint of immodesty, "A kiss for good luck?" she queried with a flutter of her lashes.

Felicia shook her head in amusement and whispered, "Seductress," before leaning forward and dropping a passionate kiss on her girlfriend's lips. Peter and Doctor Strange shared a knowing look as they stood there waiting, and pretended to be ignorant of the display of affection once the couple came up for air. "Good luck," breathed Felicia and stared into Ranma's eyes for a few moments before forcing herself back to reality, "But now we shouldn't keep them waiting any longer, eh?"

Ranma looked at Peter and Doctor Strange and shrugged, "Guess you've got a point there, Hon," she mused and walked over to where the men where standing hand in hand with Felicia.

The men exchanged another knowing look before turning around and entering the library, Ranma and Felicia following suit. Upon entering, Ranma let her gaze travel, and was surprised to find that most of her clichéd ideas of how a Sorcerers' library would look were served. Hundreds of books lined the shelves, many of them tomes with spines so thick it was impossible to handle them one-handed. A red pentagram of about two metres in total was set up in the middle of the room, arcane looking candles in strange looking receptacles in varying forms arranged around and within the circle.

Doctor Strange casually walked into the circle, and Ranma knew instinctively that the same was expected of her. Letting go of Felicia's hand after receiving a last, encouraging squeeze the redhead suppressed the brief feeling of uncertainty that washed down her spine and stepped into the pentagram as well, coming to a stop ten centimetres from the Sorcerer, facing him. "If I said it won't hurt I'd be lying, Ranma, and it's easy to tell you don't appreciate lies and half-truths," the tall man said with a small smile.

Ranma's answering smile was a bit tense, but it reached her eyes nonetheless, "I 'preciate your honesty, Doc. Pain's nothing new to me, though, so bring it on," she retorted and grit her teeth as the man nodded.

Felicia and Peter, both having moved a safe distance away due to Peter's muttered warning that they wouldn't want to be caught up in whatever magic Doctor Strange was going to cast, watched with bated breath as a look of deep concentration appeared on the man's face, and a strong wind began to pick up induced by forces unseen, making Ranma's long ponytail flap about. Doctor Strange's voluminous cloak flapped about in the gust which gave the impression that the cloak was alive, but the Sorcerer Supreme didn't seem to take notice of the sharp change in the room's climate in his state of ultra-concentration.

Suddenly a whitish energy sprang forth from his left fist, writhing about and around it in swirling tendrils of magic which power saturated the very air. Ranma, who was standing closest to the Sorcerer Supreme felt like she was standing next to a reactor, all hairs on her body standing on end.

Finally Earth's most powerful magic user spoke the words that should change her world forever, "Ancient bindings created to bring nothing but sorrow, I command thee, dissolve! Bestow on this worthy one the power of control!" he chanted, his aura growing an ever brighter white, and then he shouted, **"Coagmentatio exsolvo!"** and Ranma was hit by a pure-white beam of magic.

To the redhead reality seemed to explode as she was immersed in a universe of pain, and Ranma felt herself cry out, yet she felt no shame at this loss of control. Her eyes were so tightly shut that they were leaking tears from the corners, and she could feel the waves of worry emanating from her mate. Sym, she felt, was powerless to do much of anything, which was troubling, but she absently filed it away for later review.

Right now she was busy with being torn apart by the strange magic doing a number on her, and then, suddenly, she felt herself warp and change; this change, however, was not accompanied by the tell-tale tingling in the back of her mind that usually accompanied the gender-change whenever water was involved, she, or rather he only felt it because of his much greater than average awareness of his body. That, and the dangly bits plus Sym adapting his underwear to fit it to his changed body were hard to miss. After a few seconds of being free of pain had passed Ranma deduced that the process had run its course and he slowly and carefully opened gleaming cerulean eyes that locked on Doctor Strange's grey ones.

"Done?" the escaped convict whispered, his voice sounding a bit hoarse.

"That we are, Ranma," Dr. Strange replied with twinkling eyes, "And I'm almost certain there will be no side effects."

"Almost certain´, Doc?" Ranma asked suspiciously, his eyebrows raised.

"As certain as I can be. No thing's really certain when it comes to magic, Ranma. That I learned a long time ago," Earth' greatest magic user retorted with a shrug, a small, ironic smile playing in the corners of his lips.

Ranma searched the older man's eyes for a few seconds before shrugging himself. "Don't matter, really. What I have now is more than I ever dared dream of, Doc. Thanks."

"You're welcome, Ranma. And as I said, you deserved it," the Sorcerer smiled to which Peter added, "Hell yeah!", and the warm smile turned teasing, "But now I believe there's a certain someone who's getting impatient."

Ranma just had time to turn his head, for faster than he could blink the teen found Felicia latched onto his body with her legs wrapped around his torso, and just his ability to adhere to surfaces saved them from making acquaintance with the ground.

"I reckon you like what you see, dear?" queried Ranma with a shit-eating grin on his face, his strong arms wrapped around Felicia's waist holding her steady.

"Whatever gave you this impression, Hon?" Felicia asked with a grin of her own and ignored the amused chuckles coming from Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

"Intuition, dear," Ranma retorted impishly and dropped a passionate kiss on Felicia's lips, who immediately reciprocated in kind.

Standing in the background Peter looked at the Sorcerer Supreme, a smile playing on his face. "That was a great thing you did there, Doc. Like an early Christmas present, or-" he trailed off thoughtfully as he tried to find the most appropriate comparison.

"Part of the karmic payback Ranma deserves?" suggested Doctor Strange seriously.

"That," agreed Peter with an empathic nod, "Can't believe how much shit he went through, and he's almost twelve years younger than me for crying out loud!"

"Yes, Ranma's had to live through more than many people have to their whole lives, Peter," the Doctor agreed with a grave nod, "Which is why it makes me that much happier that I could be of assistance."

"Now we just have to find out if Ranma can change at will," mused Peter thoughtfully like the scientist he was, "Which might take a while considering they don't seem to plan to come up for air."

Doctor Strange subtly waved his hand behind his back and smiled, "Something tells me that'll solve itself, Peter."

Spider-Man was about to reply when the couple did separate indeed, yet he limited himself to raise a brow. Long standing experience had taught him not to bet against the Doc. Ever. His poor wallet could attest to that, and it still hadn't recovered from last time.

"Say dear, what about my Ra-chan?" queried Felicia and looked up into Ranma's eyes with her best puppy-dog-eyes impression.

Ranma chuckled and put an errant strand of silver hair behind his girlfriend's ear, "No need to bring out the big guns, Hon. I'm as curious as you are," he assured her, and a look of concentration appeared on his face, "If I just imagine my female side in my minds eye," he muttered to himself, eyes closed, "and will myself to assume this form I should... Yeah, I can feel it," he said, and his voice assumed a higher pitch towards the end as it was a female that had spoken.

"Well done, Ranma," commented Doctor Strange approvingly, "Changing forms will get easier with practise until it's second nature to you. And I know this because there've been two documented precedents in the past one-thousand-five-hundred years."

"Thanks, Doc. You weren't joking when you said it's almost never done," Ranma said with closed eyes which she slowly opened to look down at herself, and a grin bloomed on her face as she fixed her eyes on Felicia, "Hi Hon, miss me?" she queried impishly, fluttering her eyelashes.

Her answer consisted of a shapely body pressing itself against hers and a scorching kiss that almost left her panting, and a dreamy smile playing on her face Ranma muttered, "I take that as a yes," as soon as they'd come up for air, and an impishly grinning redhead closed her eyes and concentrated, this time shifting to male form, "This is so great! Thanks, Doc!" he said to Doctor Strange, his face and eyes easily conveying his gratitude.

"Yeah, thanks, Doc," a smiling Felicia added just as grateful, "This means much to us."

Doctor Strange nodded his head modestly, "You're welcome. It was long overdue that something good happened to you, Ranma, and I'm glad I could do my part to lessen your burden."

"You're selling yourself short, Doc, and you know it," Felicia commented smilingly, causing the Doctor's lips to quirk upwards.

"Couldn't agree more, dear," Ranma agreed with a nod, his serious blue eyes fixing the magic user, "If you ever need help, just gimme a call. I won't forget what you did for me, and you have my promise to be there when you need me."

"Count me in as well," Felicia said just as seriously.

"Well, Doc, what can I say, you have that effect on people," commented Peter with a big grin.

"Thus is my fate, often strange," commented the raven-haired man, causing soft laughter all around.

-.-

The trio had stayed for over two more hours, Ranma having accepted Wong's – and by proxy Doctor Strange's – invitation to stay for dinner. Now, at 10:22 p.m. their paths strayed as each of them headed home; Peter just raised an amused brow when Felicia followed her boyfriend, as he could well imagine which exhausting activity would take place at Ranma's flat in a short while. **'Lucky bastard's gonna get some, but he deserves it,'** he thought with a wry smile, **'Now if only that'd be my terrible fate as well...'**

**To be continued**….

Author's Notes:

First off, thanks to all of you who are managing to hang with my release times on this story (and others). I know said release times can be rather (ahem) dismal and all I can say is sorry. Happenings in RL as well as reviving other projects have taken up much of my time but I'll keep on releasing stuff whenever I can.

Special Thanks: to my sounding board aka beta readers, MetroidVania and BorgRabbit. Thanks for making this better than it'd have been without your efforts, guys.

Some quick notes:

– a lot of Marvel canon happenings here, but hey, they're necessary happenings and hint at things to come.

– I'm well aware that giving Ranma – partial – control over the curse seems like making life way too easy for our favourite martial artist, but most of you know me by now, doncha? Nothing's ever for free, and Doc Strange said he was almost certain there were no side effects… grin

Then again, having at least partial control over the curse brings Ranma one step closer to what most men desire, normalcy…

– Ranma and Felicia getting down to the nitty gritty… nope, I'm not planning to write a lemon.

Marvel Character section (in order of appearance)

– **Rhino**: Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich aka Alex O'Hirn used to be a small-time enforcer before he accepted a lucrative offer extended by a pair of foreign operatives. Believing the brute's muscular physique (Height: 6' 5", Weight: 710 lbs) and low intelligence would ensure his loyalty, the said spies convinced him to undergo an experiment to create a superhumanly powerful assassin. O'Hirn submitted to several months of chemical and radiation treatments that ultimately granted him extraordinary strength. In addition to that a team of specialists developed a material of incredible toughness and coarseness, akin to the hide of a rhinoceros, from which they fabricated a skin-tight suit of armour. The Rhino was born.

As such, he can press up to 80 tons, and the polymer armour, analogous to rhinoceros hide, makes him almost invulnerable. Most noteworthy is his devastating "charge" attack (making use of two tough and sharp rhinoceros horns are part of his costume), which is delivered with a speed of up to 100mph. The downside to this is that he has difficulty stopping or making sharp turns.

His low level of intelligence has been a decisive factor time and again, leading to defeat after defeat.

– **Electro**: the man known as Max Dillon used to work as a high-wire lineman until he was involved in a freak accident. While in contact with power lines still connected to their spool Dillon was struck by lightning. Literally. The unusually configured magnetic field generated by the wound spool of cable and live, high-tension wires induced a body-wide mutagenic change to his nervous system.

Dillon found himself transformed into a living electrical capacitor, powered by the micro-fine rhythmic muscle contractions that normally regulate body temperature.

Ever since the accident Dillon can generate electrostatic energy through his body at a rate of about 1,000 volts per minute, and store up to 1,000,000 volts. At ten feet, his maximum charge is more than enough to kill a normal man. Electro can also employ his electrostatic energy as lightning arcs from his fingertips at 1,100 feet per second for about 100 feet. He can also override any electrically-powered device and manipulate it to his will with mental commands.

As with Rhino, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, and it has cost him time and again.

– **Dr. Strange**: Doctor Stephen Strange used to be a brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon whose career was cut short when a car accident resulted in severe nerve damage to his hands. Thereafter, he was unable even to hold a scalpel and thus rendered incapable of working.

Strange tried everything he could to heal his hands, but ultimately nothing worked. In the end (and as his last chance) he decided to travel to Tibet to find a cure. And it was truly there that he found an old man that taught him the ways of magic, ultimately setting him on the path to healing himself (spiritually and physically).

Trained in the ways of magic, Dr. Strange can call upon a great many magical spells, including incantations enabling him to cast illusions and hurl mystical bolts. He wears a cloak of levitation that grants him the power of flight and wields the Eye of Agamotto, which allows him to see through illusions and read minds. Also, he possesses a wide array or arcane texts, artifacts, books and relics.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s): **

Dumbledork, NeverTooOld, MadHat886, Regret, dogbertcarroll, borg rabbit, Jerry Unipeg, cjcold2, Wonderbee31, QundraDraconum, Dracomancer1, dragonwings7373, Seth O. Blade, gen x, mystery person, Coral Skipper, James Axelrad, Kumori Shadow Kage, Bobboky, BlackRoseFire, Dragon Man 180, ninofchaos, Otritzi, (), Epsilon, firelordeg, Nachoman1, wolf40k, Abudharma, Ctu, Tuisto, crimsonkyuubi, AMWOOD co, Redzorin, They call me Bruce, Aocasio10, Commander Galos, Violet Shadows, Chris ShadowMoon, Jollywolfe, GeorgeTobor, Lerris, The Dred Samael, OkdroMasterOfRunes, mythicalprogrammer, Akane Toshiro!, Princess Asuna, DeltaKyuubi, masaki yang yi1, Stephen Adezio, tannim, Ken P.,


	15. Lessons

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 15: Lessons**

Four weeks later, on the 21st of May, 1995 found Felicia, Ranma and Happosai at New York's JFK airport, with the Anything Goes Grandmaster clothed in decidedly untypical clothes (for him, anyway), a black long-sleeved shirt, a black sweater and an equally black long cloak of which he'd claimed were his most comfortable – read: cool – clothes. His real intention wasn't hard to read, though, black was a colour best suited for stealth after all, and the pink ninja costume the Grandmaster owned would have been a tad... counterproductive in that regard.

The Parkers had come as well, and the quintet was standing in the departure hall, waiting for Felicia's and Happosai's flight to be announced. Said hall was less crowded than Ranma would have expected, but then again, his flight from New Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, to JFK NY had taken off at round about 11 a.m. local time back then, whereas Felicia's – and Happosai's – flight would take off in round about thirty minutes at 6:41 a.m. local time.

This May had been an unusually warm month, and it seemed this Sunday would be no exception gauging from the clear blue sky. The spring fever the temperatures of well over 22° Celsius had brought made Felicia's departure that much harder on Ranma. In round about fifteen minutes she'd depart for Nerima where she'd arrive in round about fifteen hours, to stay for an indeterminate amount of time; namely as long as it'd take to deliver the first blow to _them_.

Felicia's impending departure was the reason the couple was immersed in a soulful hug, the two standing in the middle of a small mountain of luggage that was strewn about, and MJ and Peter (who'd been together for years) shared a quiet smile at the obvious love the younger couple shared.

The Parkers, much as Happosai, had been there in these last four weeks to witness how Ranma and Felicia had grown even closer, and they'd also seen the effects the gift Doctor Strange had bestowed upon Ranma had had. It seemed that a large weight had been removed from the young man's shoulders, and it'd led to a much more focussed and driven ex-Saotome. Ranma, or Ran as he now preferred to be called, had likened it to an annoying splinter, an intangible thorn in his side that'd finally been removed.

Neither Peter nor MJ, or even Felicia, who was much closer to Ranma, had been able to fully understand what he'd been trying to describe, but the effect the removal of Jusenkyo's binding had brought about was profound. Ranma, though still intent on having his revenge, was now much more carefree and easy going, in both forms. Training under him – and her – was, while strenuous and downright hellacious, fun.

The training regime had had to be adapted a bit for MJ to take her condition into account, a condition Ranma had already accurately detected weeks back. The beautiful redhead had been reluctant to reveal her pregnancy seeing as it was said doing so before the third month would bring about bad luck, but for the sake of her unborn child's health – and her own – she'd come forward. Ranma had just smiled and begun to teach her ki-exercises that'd help her in the upcoming months, and had promised to keep an eye on her developing pregnancy.

In Peter's and Felicia's case the effects of the rigorous training regime were already showing seeing as both had become more agile, faster and stronger in their two months of hell, as they were wont to call it. They were very thankful to their sensei for indulging them in the secrets of the Anything Goes style, and seeing as the results spoke for themselves they didn't complain much, as both heroes knew that even a dram of speed, strength or agility could mean the difference between life and death.

One of the said sensei, Happosai, was uncharacteristically quiet today as he stood to the side, and upon closer scrutiny one would have noticed that his lips were sporting a small smile. In former times the old Grandmaster would have scoffed at Ranma's and Felicia's public display of affection, but not so where this particular couple was concerned.

Ranma had always had a special spot in his heart and he viewed his gender-changing heir as the grandson/granddaughter – depending on the weather and differently temperated water as well as Ranma's wishes as of late – he'd never had, and he wished him all the best, a fulfilled and love-filled relationship most of all.

The other half of the couple, Felicia, had quickly wormed her way into his heart over the last two months as well. Not only was she as dedicated to the Art as Ranma and almost as talented, she also had a personality that'd made it easy to like her, and sometime during the last eight weeks it'd clicked between them. She was now his heir just as much as Ranma, and the 'betrayers' as Ranma had labelled them would soon find out why he held her in high regards.

The small smile transformed into a wicked grin and anticipation began to bubble up in him as his thoughts strayed to what he'd unleash on Nerima, or at least on _them_ and anyone associated with them. He'd grope, fondle and liberate from aforementioned group to his hearts' content, and even Nabiki and Kasumi whom he'd never included in his panty raids before would learn to be always on their toes around him.

Maybe he'd make the former outright fear him as her personality made her a likely candidate for being absolutely unrepentant even in face of Ranma's innocence, but maybe he'd just be done with dishing out the very humiliating way of payback he'd cooked up for Nabiki. He shrugged minutely. Maybe he'd do both. Akane, well, she was fair game too even if she'd shown signs of guilt, but that'd been too little and too late. Besides, did he need a reason for liberating silky darlings or dishing out punishment anyway?

His grin nearly split his face when he thought about liberating silky darlings from the woman who'd given birth to Ranma, and the other passengers standing close by slowly edged away due to the palpable feeling of malevolence radiating off the Grandmaster.

"Happi, hold onto these feelings when you give them hell for me," Ranma spoke up from beside the older man, who turned to the right to look into cerulean eyes that were gleaming darkly.

The Anything Goes Grandmaster nodded his head, his own dark orbs whispering of the things to come. "I will, Ran, I will," he returned uncharacteristically solemnly, the malevolent grin reappearing on his face moments later. "I also want to ask something of you before I leave, namely your permission to dish out a punishment I thought up for a certain Ice Queen should an opportunity present itself. And I'm not talking about liberating her silky darlings."

That piqued Ranma's curiosity, and the young man cocked a blonde brow. "What did you have in mind?"

The malevolent smile turned mischievous and Happosai made tsking noises. "Tut, tut, my boy. It's a surprise, but I assure you, it's very appropriate and I'm certain you'll approve of my idea of payback. And seeing as it's uncertain if the said opportunity will present itself I'd like to keep it to myself. You'll certainly understand, won't you?"

Ranma couldn't help but smile at the big and round and o so innocent eyes looking up at him. "Can it already with the puppy-dog eyes, letch, 'licia's beaten you hands down in that department," he grinned, making a certain silver-haired woman as well as the Parkers smile. "But yeah, I can live with it, as long as I get the full story should ya have a chance to put your plan into action, okay?"

Happosai nodded solemnly. "Sure. I even have prepared another surprise for you of which dear Felicia will tell you about once we're done. It should be after your tastes."

Ranma resisted the urge to grill the old man for information about this surprise seeing as he knew he'd have no luck at uncovering anything and limited himself to a nod. "I'm looking forward to hearing what you cooked up. Taking your deeds of the past into account it's probably a blast."

Happosai smirked in a way that sent shivers down the spines of anyone nearby. "Funny you should say that, Ran. It'll be so much of a blast like you wouldn't believe. But more to that in time, go give your girl a good bye kiss as we-"

"Gotta leave now, yeah," finished Ranma, who'd heard the announcement as well. Turning around to his girlfriend he covered the short distance separating them and swept her into a hug, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss.

When the two still hadn't come up for air two minutes later – much to the amusement of the Parkers and Happosai – the latter spoke up, a fake-hopeful expression on his face. "And what about me? Don't I get a parting kiss like that?"

Ranma and Felicia continued to kiss a few moments longer, then the couple turned to him as one. "Happi, not even in your wildest dreams," replied Ranma with an amused snort, but paused when Felicia whispered something in his ear.

His expression going thoughtful the blond queried, "Do I hafta?" with a slightly disgruntled expression.

Felicia just smiled sweetly and batted her lashes. "If you want all the details of our coup de grace, mister, then yes. Besides, doesn't he deserve it?"

Ranma's face scrunched up for all of one second. "No. But that's beside the point, I fear. Good, dear, I'll do it," he said and walked away towards the toilets that were across the hall.

"What's he doing, Felicia?" asked Peter from behind, a brown brow cocked in curiosity.

Felicia turned around and smiled mysteriously at Peter and his wife. "You'll see, Pete."

A smile broke out on MJ's face when she saw Ranma enter the ladies' toilet, her smile growing bigger when she and everyone from their group saw his form waver before he, now she, stepped through the door. No one else had seen the change and Ranma had made sure that he wasn't being monitored by the surveillance system, and two minutes later Mara Parker joined her friends, albeit clad in tight black leather pants, a black tank top, boots and an equally black leather jacket instead of the blue jeans and red shirt she'd worn as Randall; unsurprisingly she drew a lot of looks, and the redhead had to hide her smile when she saw Felicia wetting her apparently dry lips with the tip of her tongue.

"Hey all, I've heard that two of my best friends are going on a trip to have some fun," she spoke up with a pout adorning her face. "And imagine my surprise when I found out they didn't feel the necessity to tell me when they were gonna leave."

"Must've been an oversight on our part," retorted a smiling Felicia as she stepped forward to hug her girlfriend, the hug lingering a bit longer than was appropriate for friends. "One that won't happen again. Good to see you."

"You too, 'licia," Mara returned as she reluctantly separated from the other woman, and stared into Felicia's eyes. "I wish you all the best in overseas, and return whole and healthy. And soon," she breathed, and forced herself to smile.

Felicia's answering smile was just as forced. "Thanks, Mara. I'll try my best, on all accounts."

Mara nodded one more time and stepped over to Happosai. "Hey old man," she said and bent down to hug him to her, much to his surprise. "No groping, no fondling, and don't even try to steal my underwear as Sym'd bite you. Literally. This is just a hug between me and someone I've come to appreciate, got it?"

The gobsmacked Grandmaster nodded slowly and carefully returned the hug. "Yeah, thank you, dear," he retorted, a real smile blossoming on his face as his mind grasped the significance of both the act and the meaning the gesture held. "I won't abuse your trust, of that you can be sure, m'dear."

The redhead smiled as well. "You better not," she said only half-jokingly, and added. "All the best to you, old letch. Give 'em hell from me and return safe and sound, okay?"

"I will. _We_ will," he said and stepped out of the hug of his own volition, determination flaring in his dark eyes. "We'll be back as soon as is opportune, and we'll call once we've arrived," he added and grabbed his luggage.

"Right," Felicia said and hurried over to the Parkers to exchange good byes, then she picked up her luggage as well. "Now we gotta scoot, guys. Wish us luck!" she exclaimed and winked one last time before hurrying away.

Mara watched with Peter and MJ how Felicia and Happosai hurried through the hall to get to their gate, and a part of her wanted to call out to Felicia for her to stop and stay here with her. She started a bit in surprise when a slender hand was put on her right shoulder, and looking over her shoulder she glimpsed into the understanding green eyes of MJ.

"She'll be back before you know it, Mara, mark my words," the redhead said empathically, conviction in her voice. "And she'll have tales to tell us."

"Yeah," said Peter, who'd stepped to her other side, and Mara was thankful that he didn't place his hand on her shoulder seeing as it would have looked incredibly kinky. "Knowing Felicia, and I know her well, there won't be a stone left standing in Nerima when she's through."

"Gauging from your stories there couldn't be a nicer place to befall that fate, Mara," muttered MJ darkly.

"True, true," assuaged Peter quickly before a darkly nodding Mara could reply, the Parker male fearing another bout of rampaging hormones on his wife's part should she develop steam. "How about we head home now? Coffee and doughnuts for breakfast as agreed upon beforehand, eh, Mara, and Indian style breakfast for you, MJ?"

Mara's answering smile was not as bright as usual seeing as her thoughts still dwelled on her girlfriends' departure. "Sure, Pete, lets."

Mary Jane put a slender arm around Mara's midsection to convey her compassion and looked at her husband. "You heard her, tiger, lets."

-.-

International travel had been nothing new to Felicia, and neither had it been to the aged Grandmaster of the Anything Goes, but what had been new to the Black Cat was the feeling that she'd left a part of herself behind.

Her thoughts kept on returning to her love, and she'd followed Happosai's example and watched one of the movies the airline provided to distract herself. It'd passably worked, yet after watching three movies in a row they'd both been bored out of their minds nonetheless, and after they had gotten as comfortable as possible in the adequate chairs the first class provided they had begun a discussion on Anything Goes techniques and how to modify them to greater use, SD joining in. Time had passed by quickly from then on out, and fourteen hours and some odd minutes later the Boeing 777 began its final descent and touched down at New Tokyo International Airport 10:51 a.m. local time.

Forty-five minutes later Happosai and Felicia were standing outside the airport's customs, and the duo quickly made their way to the rail station. Happosai, having travelled to the airport before and thus knowing the area well enough quickly led them to their station, and another five minutes after their arrival there they were already sitting in a bullet train en route to the general vicinity of Nerima.

As they'd agreed upon in advance, they'd not enter the ward before Felicia had gotten herself a hotel, and according to their pre-planning she'd quarter at the Dai-Ichi Inn Ikebukuro which was a stone's throw away from their target area, at least where their abilities were concerned, while Happosai himself would likely set up quarters at the Tendo Dojo.

Felicia had been a bit sceptical when Happosai had claimed their trip to Ikebukuro wouldn't take more than one and a half hours, but when they left the moderately full bullet train about fifty minutes later and changed trains for the Keisei Skyliner to Nippori she could believe it. Their last change of trains happened when they finally took the JR Yamanote Line to their destination, and the Black Cat was glad for it. She'd never been one to travel by subway or bullet train, always preferring the freedom travelling under ones' own power brought about, and this trait had only been amplified ever since she'd become host for SD.

One and a half hours later, just as promised, Happosai and Felicia exited the bullet train, and the old Grandmaster, knowing his way around the Tokyo wards like no other, quickly led his student to the Inn. Some quick negotiations with the owner of the Inn later Felicia had a relatively cheap single room with standard amenities. Nothing too fancy, just a quarter for the nights, exactly as she'd wanted.

Now, at exactly 1:06 p.m. local time, student and Grandmaster exchanged a look and nodded, both jumping upwards and taking to the rooftops as one. Their destination: the Tendo-ke.

-.-

Not ten minutes later Felicia and Happosai touched down on the rooftop of the house opposite of the Tendo Dojo, which gave the Black Cat the opportunity to get familiar with the surroundings. "So that's where those who abandoned my love like trash live," the Black Cat mused silently to herself in flawless Japanese after getting a good look at the large house. "They have it way too good here."

Happosai, standing to her right, nodded. "Which is exactly why I arranged for the surprise I mentioned to Ran," he commented in his native tongue with gleaming eyes. "But first things first, now get in there and get this recording."

Felicia met his grim gaze with a determined look of her own, nodded once and shimmered out of existence. Jumping down from the roof the Black Cat landed soundlessly, and a mighty leap catapulted her over the Tendo perimeter wall and onto the rooftop of the Tendo house. A quick scan for ki-signatures revealed that just one relatively weak resident was at home, and from the layout her love had given her, residing in the kitchen.

She scowled briefly as she considered what she'd learned about the likely culprit, one Kasumi Tendo. If anyone out of Ran's supposed friends should've believed him – outside of his erstwhile fiancée, of course – then it was her. But she, like almost anyone else, had made the mistake to believe the worst of him; a mistake she'd come to regret.

Shaking her head to shoo away these thoughts Felicia forced herself to focus on the mission she wanted to accomplish and recalled what Ran had told her about the layout of the house. Gnashing her teeth she crawled down to where the rooms of the sisters were located, and lady luck seemed to smile down on her. **'Jackpot. The oldest' window's open, probably wanted to aerate her room or something,'** she thought with a grin and crawled into the room.

Felicia didn't pay the interior of the room much heed aside from dismissing it as boring and quickly made her way along the walls and into the hallway, the door luckily being open. She made her way along the wall until she came to a full stop in front of the door that led to Nabiki's room, and a fierce scowl appeared on her face. This young woman had extorted and exploited her love to her hearts content in his old life, had even had the audacity to sell explicit photos of her Ra-chan, and even if he said it'd been done to keep the family afloat she didn't believe one word of it. The straw that'd broken the camel's back had however been the teens' behaviour at the trial, as it'd been her words that'd caused Ranma's life to turn into a living hell. Oh yeah, she'd get hers, of that she'd make sure.

The scowl never leaving her face she let herself soundlessly to the ground, gracefully coming to stand in front of the door. '**Che, a door sign so innocent's totally unbefitting of a cruel li'l thing like her,'** she thought derisively, and had to force her attention back to the mission lest she descend on a downward spiral of anger, **'SD, please check this door for me and disable any security measures you find.'**

— _**Affirmative, Felicia, —**_ SD thought back, and red-black tendrils extended from the costume to do the Black Cat's bidding. _**— Nothing extraordinary here. Just a very sophisticated lock, —**_ the symbiote commented, and moments later the lock came undone with a soft clicking noise that made Felicia smile, _**— But not sophisticated enough. Now to check for acoustic and video surveillance before we enter... Found it. What should I do to the surveillance equipment? —**_

The costumed woman pondered the question for a moment. '**Can you destroy it in a way that makes it look like it gave out from wear and tear?'**

Felicia felt SD probe the equipment for a time, then the symbiote had an answer for her, _**— Seeing as the equipment seems to be from one and the same manufacturer from the feel of the components it should not be overly suspicious. Factor in that the equipment feels to be about two years old a failure is within the realm of possibility. — **_

A malevolent grin spread on Felicia's face. '**Do it, SD,'** she ordered, and the symbiote obliged in a way the woman thought to be gleeful. '**Aww, isn't it too bad for widdle little Nabiki that she's gotta replace her electronic toys?'** she crowed, **'Any chance we might find her thrice accursed camera and make it seem like another case of wear 'n' tear?'** she asked hopefully.

— _**That would be too much of a coincidence, Felicia. But seeing as this is hardly the beginning of our Vendetta against those who wronged Ranma I am certain other opportunities will present themselves, —**_ SD replied with a definite undertone of gleeful malice to her voice.

**'True, SD,'** the silver-haired woman replied in a matching tone and carefully entered the room, closing the door behind her. '**Now to find the safe.'**

— _**Luckily the room's interior has not changed since Ranma's departure, —**_ SD commented after a cursory scan of Nabiki's room.

Felicia scoffed as she took in the room with her own senses. '**Feh, that's probably 'cause her favourite cash cow was gone,'** she commented snarkily. '**Now where would she hide her treasure chest, hmm? It's unlikely to be behind one of the pictures, the walls are too thin in these Japanese houses. Or are they? SD, can you-'**

— _**Already on it, —**_ the symbiote replied, and like before tendrils extended from the costume that scanned the surface of the wall to the right, _**— There is nothing behind this wall, nor behind the book case. **_

— _**The front wall is clear as well, — **_SD told her host a minute later,_** — that leaves... Ahh, I seem to have found it, —**_ the symbiote almost crowed and retracted the tendrils. _**— Very clever for a human. Open the right-most door of the armoire, yes, and now... —**_

Yet again a mass of tendrils extended from the costume, writhing and searching, and not ten seconds later a wall-panel of about fifty by fifty centimetres slid to the side, revealing a standard grey safe with an electronic key-lock. Writhing about almost eagerly the tendrils went to work, and SD's inherent abilities quickly proved too much for the security measures the safe provided.

Felicia would later on swear she felt SD smirk when she pulled open the door, revealing the safe's contents. The woman's eyes widened upon seeing the items contained within, ranging from several carefully arranged DAT-cassettes to a large stash of money; any possibly incriminating documents were noticeably absent. Her expression darkened progressively when Felicia realised how this money had been earned, through extortion, blackmail and her love. Dirty photos, betting on fights, the whole nine yards.

Hissing in anger Felicia forced her gaze away from the money and studied the spines of the cassettes, only for her eyes to widen yet again when she read the tidy scrawl on the spines, this time in disbelief. **'This cold, calculating bitch. She practically recorded every juicy titbit Ranma ever said, and probably sold it to the highest bidder. No wonder his relationship with Akane never worked out with her interfering at every turn. Che, I won't complain 'bout the results, but that girl sure is a piece of work,'** she thought in disgust and shook her head, **'Money's my religion, eh? I hope I'm there to watch when all your so called wealth goes up in smoke.**'

— _**Oh, but we will. She will get what is coming to her, irregardless of what the one named Happosai has in store for her. But now we should find the correct tape and copy it, —**_ SD spoke up.

Felicia gave a mental nod and resumed her browsing, only to give a mental crow of triumph. '**Found it! Wouldcha look at the title! Confessions of the Black Rose, date 11****th**** Feb., 1995. That's it!'** she thought, grabbed the tape and sat down Indian style.

Reaching into a pocket that suddenly appeared below her right breast Felicia pulled out a device that resembled at DAT-recorder at first sight, but was indeed far more. **'Brilliant that I could talk Reed into giving us this li'l toy during our last check-up,'** she thought with a grin and placed the cassette in the recorder.

— _**That it is indeed. Technology like that will not be available to the masses for at least another ten to twenty years, —**_ SD commented, _**— I must admit Reed Richards is a brilliant man, far ahead of his time. We should watch him carefully lest he forgets the responsibilities his powers bestow on him. But that is for another time. — **_

Felicia had raised a curious brow as she'd worked the recorder, and she'd found out to her joy that the device was working as advertised. The data from the recording was being transferred to the internal mini HDD, and the transfer would be finished in round about two minutes. **'Reed's brilliant, oh yeah, but you'll have to fill me in on whatcha mean. Ya piqued my curiosity, SD.'**

— _**Good. Expand on my statement I will. But now proceed with copying anything that might be of interest, we do not know when Nabiki Tendo will be home, —**_ SD retorted.

**'Aye, aye, ma'am,'** Felicia returned with an ironic grin and a mock-salute and browsed through the DAT-cassettes sitting before her, whistling a merry tune in her mind.

-.-

Twenty minutes later found Felicia on the adjacent rooftop where she'd left Happosai, and the young woman found the Anything Goes Grandmaster standing at the edge of the said rooftop, hidden by his own brand of the Umi. No one but Ranma and her would've been able to detect him, and that she'd managed to do so again – and without SD's help – made her smile in a satisfied way reminiscent of a cat.

"Hey old letch," she whispered into the darkness. "Everything went off without a hitch, and all traces of my presence have been erased. Oh, and isn't it oh so unfortunate that Nabiki will have to replace her surveillance equipment 'cause it gave out from wear 'n' tear?"

A shimmer rippled through the air and Happosai returned to the visible spectrum, his dark eyes glinting amusedly. "A pity indeed. Did you get everything we wanted?"

Felicia grinned in reply. "More than we could ever have imagined. But let's relocate this to my hotel room, who knows what kind of loon might happen to stumble upon us."

The Anything Goes Grandmaster nodded his head sagely. "Well said, this is Nerima after all. Let's be off," he muttered and jumped off the building, quickly heading South with Felicia by his side.

A fast-paced ten minute trip later found the duo sitting at the table Felicia's hotel room provided, and another five minutes consisting of copying a certain recording to cassettes and then listening to it later a predatory grin was shared. "The Kuno bitch's toast," Felicia summed it up with a satisfied glint in her eyes. "And these cassettes will go a long way to help Ranma in court."

Happosai watched as his student stored camera and DAT recorder in the safest possible place, the costume her symbiote provided. "And that's but the beginning. In a few hours we'll go back to the Tendo-ke, and I'll present you as my heir."

Felicia mirrored his grin. "I can hardly wait to see their faces," she crowed delightedly, her face scrunching up in thought moments later. "How 'bout you paint the town red and I relax for a bit? I'm certain there're some interesting lacy and silky darlings for you to liberate from certain parties. Ain't Yuka and Sayuri fair game?"

Happosai's face lit up and the expression on his face made him look like an unholy terror about to be unleashed. "Very good idea, m'dear. There's a lot to catch up to, and those two are pretty enough, at least on the outside. So, see you in a few, Felicia-chan," he agreed, and eagerly walked over to the window and opened it. He threw one last, boyish grin over his shoulder and jumped out, and with a cry of "SWEETO!" the old man was gone.

-.-

Four hours later Felicia and Happosai were standing on the same self rooftop they had observed the Tendo-ke from four hours ago, but now at round about 5 p.m. the house was bustling with activity. Knowing the layout of the house like the back of her hand thanks to Ranma, Happosai and SD and aligning that with the ki-signatures present in the house gave her – and the Grandmaster, of course – the knowledge where everyone was. **'Well, that ain't true exactly, I know where the ki-signatures are and whether they be male or female, but that's it. So it's nice Happi's filling in the gaps,'** Felicia thought to herself as she listened intently.

"The ones in the living room are my students, although I only consider one of them that after what happened," he grumbled, his face contorting in disdain. "The stronger one that feels bear-like is Genma, the father of your beloved, the other is the disappointment that is Soun Tendo.

"Moving on, the female in the kitchen is Kasumi, the one who surprised me the most in the negative sense. You live as long as me and you think you've seen everything, but human behaviour's always good for a fuckin' surprise. Privately, I'm very curious as to Ran's punishment for her."

"Knowing my Ran it'll be fitting," Felicia returned and balled her right fist in tightly controlled anger.

Happosai nodded in agreement. "I'm certain of that, and I'm looking forward to the fireworks," he said with a boyish grin. "The one in the room you 'infiltrated' is, unsurprisingly the 'Ice Queen' herself, and I'm sure I don't have to say anything 'bout her,"

"Not really. Her fate's sealed even though the over-confident bitch doesn't know it yet," Felicia snarled between clenched teeth. "Li'l Miss 'I'm untouchable' will find out just how easy it is to burn her fingers."

Happosai nodded sagely. "When the time comes, yes, and maybe sooner than anticipated," he agreed cryptically, and set his sights on the dojo, Felicia following his example after cocking a silver brow in Happosai's direction, but the Grandmaster carried on without elaborating what he'd meant. "The two in the dojo are the girl you heard so much about, Akane, and the Hibiki boy. Do you feel this... anomaly in his aura, similar to Genma's?"

Felicia squinted her eyes and concentrated as she stretched her senses to the limit. "Yessss. Is that his Jusenkyo curse?" she asked, turning her head to look at Happosai.

The old man nodded. "Right on the money, m'dear. I wonder if we'll be able to capitalise on it. Say, like-"

"-casually tossing a glass of water his way and pretend it was an accident?" Felicia suggested with a wolfish grin.

"Why, that'd be downright evil, m'dear," Happosai said in a mock-admonishing tone that made Felicia look at her feet in mock-embarrassment. "I'd have to reprimand you for being clumsy and would be forced to show you a special technique to make up for your clumsiness."

Felicia's face was blank and her mask almost perfect, but the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her. "If you feel it's necessary, master," she said mock-solemnly, "But I'll gladly hazard the consequences. It's high time a certain tomboy finds out who her dear p-chan really is," she mused.

Happosai almost laughed tears at the mental image of how surprised a certain Hibiki would look when his curse was finally revealed to Akane, and shook his head to focus on things ahead. "Right. Now let's get this show on the road, and don't forget, come off as arrogant as they get, that'll especially get Akane's goat."

Felicia nodded and turned up her nose, her right hand tucking some errant strands of her silver hair behind her left ear. "I have that part down pat, Happi. If they thought my Ran was arrogant they'll soon come to know the true epitome of arrogance. Wonder what their faces gonna look like once they find out my arrogance's well founded?" she mused, a dark grin adorning her face.

The Grandmaster of the Anything Goes chuckled malevolently. "Why don't we find out, m'dear?" he suggested and quickly jumped off the roof, landing nimble-footed on the ground.

The Black Cat quickly followed his example and caught up to the merrily whistling man with long, distance-eating strides. "With pleasure, sensei," she replied with narrowed eyes and followed him to the front entrance.

Happosai rung the bell and impatiently waited for a response from the residents, his impatience clearly conveyed by the repeated tapping of his right foot on the concrete of the sidewalk. Two minutes of foot tapping later – which led to Felicia's left eye developing a tick – the main gate was finally opened, and a serene voice spoke up. "Welcome to the Tendo-" only to be interrupted by Happosai.

"Yeah, yeah, Kasumi, cut it out already, I know where I am," Happosai bit back and brushed by the chestnut-haired woman in a manner that was almost rude.

Felicia arched a delicate silver brow before following Happosai's example, leaving the speechless young woman who clearly had no idea of how to handle the situation to herself. As she walked up the gravel path Felicia felt Kasumi's gaze linger on her but chose to ignore it, and she let her own gaze stray as she walked up the path that led to the house. The silver-haired woman was a bit surprised when Happosai didn't use the front entrance to enter, but turned to the left instead.

Shrugging to herself she followed the Grandmaster to what she knew would come into view shortly, the infamous koi pond that'd seen so many crash-landings of her love in the past. Fighting hard to keep the scowl off her face Felicia followed Happosai onto the porch, and a grin almost broke through her impassive façade when she glimpsed through the open sliding doors.

A heavy-set balding man and a raven-haired man with long hair and a black moustache were seated across from each other with both men sporting focussed expressions, a pot of tea standing in the middle of the table with two cups of tea in front of each man, and the evidence on the low living room table suggested they'd been engrossed in the game Ran had told her about, Shogi. Now, whereas, after Happosai had cleared his throat both men were staring at her sensei in surprise and fear, fear, that was likely faked on Ran's father's part.

"M- Master, what a surprise, it's good to have you back!" exclaimed Soun Tendo after placing his cup of tea on the saucer with an audible klink, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Master," Genma said with a respectful bow.

"Surprise, Soun? Do you presume I require telling you about my plans? Do you?" Happosai demanded, staring intently at the now quivering mass before him.

"N-No, Master, I'd never dare to!" the master of the Tendo school replied in a submissive tone with a fervent shake of his head.

Happosai's eyes drilled into the sweating man a few more moments before he scoffed. "I hadn't expected anything else. And don't lie if you can't pull it off convincingly, Soun. You're clearly as happy to see me as a pig about to be neutered would be to see the vet. Ahh, ahh, I don't wanna hear any of your excuses. Now, where's your youngest?"

Soun was a hairsbreadth away from asking why, but stopped himself in time seeing as he didn't want to evoke Happosai's full-fledged wrath. "She- She's in the training hall with h-her fiancé," the sweating man uttered.

Happosai's eyes narrowed. "Her fiancé, eh? Goes to show how much she cared for Ranma seeing how quickly she moved on," he snorted derisively.

Soun wisely decided to keep his mouth shut, but Genma speaking up prompted the Grandmaster to swivel his head to regard his student. "Master, if I may inquire, who's this young woman with you?" the balding martial artist wanted to know.

Happosai gave a shark-like grin. "Why don't you ask her, Genma? I'm sure she won't bite. Much."

Genma gave an internal shrug and turned his head to Felicia. "Hello, ma'am, I'm Genma Saotome, master of the Saotome school of Anything Goes. May I inquire your name?"

"A bit rusty, Genma, but not bad. Seems all those years under your 'No-chan' haven't dulled all of your talents," Happosai commented. "Speaking of her, where is your wife?"

Genma's face briefly showed disdain before returning to impassivity. "Over at her friends' house in Itabashi ward to exchange tips concerning pregnancies," he elucidated in a bored tone, and turned his head to look at Felicia expectantly.

The said woman, who was well in the know when it came to the inner workings of the Saotome family, gave a grin. "I'm Felicia Hardy, I live in New York City, USA, and I'm heir to the Anything Goes style," she replied in flawless Japanese.

The colour drained from Soun's and Genma's faces so thoroughly a ghost would have been envious, then indignant shouts rang through the air.

**"That's an outrage! If anyone should be heir it's my baby daughter! Not a Gaijin woman!"** yelled Soun in full demon-head mode, his temper overriding his fear of his master.

"Master, how could you? You're dishonouring Ranma's memory!" Genma shouted, twin streams of tears trailing down his cheeks.

Felicia chanced a look at Happosai who gave her the go ahead with a subtle wink, and her face darkening she bellowed. "Enough!" on Happosai's behalf, and the strength of her battle aura caused the men to shut their mouths with audible clicks, their eyes wide. The silver-haired woman planted her hands on her hips and glared at the men, focussing most of her ki at Soun, while Happosai plopped down onto one of the low cushions to enjoy the show more comfortably. "It was Master Happosai's choice to make me his heir. Do you dare contest his will?" she demanded, her green eyes blazing.

Soun, who'd always been quick to act, especially when his interests were endangered, jumped to his feet and shouted. "Yes! A gaijin can't be the heir to our prestigious schools, especially not a gaijin woman!"

Felicia's face contorted in anger and she gnashed her teeth so that her temper wouldn't boil over. **'Stay calm, Felicia, stick to the plan. For Ran's sake,'** she thought to herself, and said. "What are you insinuating, Tendo-san? That women can't be as good as men? That a gaijin is worth less? An explanation, if you please," managing to keep her voice level if cutting and cold.

Soun sputtered for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Felicia. "It's been proven by science that women are weaker than men, and yes, you, a gaijin are a less than desirable choice," he stated and crossed his arms across his chest.

Felicia's eyes darkened as they drilled holes into the Tendo patriarch. "You challenge Master Happosai's word then?" she queried dangerously and didn't even defer to Soun's insults.

"Yes!" the Tendo patriarch retorted without hesitation.

The Black Cat slowly began to smile in a decidedly predatory way. "You're aware that you've automatically challenged me then as well?"

"Err, yes?" Soun asked a bit uncertain, but regained his wind quickly. "And? What does it matter? Of course I do challenge you!" he exclaimed and got to his feet.

The smile never left Felicia's face. "I'd so hoped you'd say that," she purred ominously, and turned her head to look at an amused looking Grandmaster. "Master, do you accept the challenge?"

Happosai looked up from his tea, and the evil look on his face spoke of the calamities to come. "Of course I do, dear. It's quite obvious someone needs a lesson in humility, and who better to dish it out than you, Felicia-chan? I must also admit to being quite curious as to the fruits of our labour, m'dear."

Felicia mirrored his evil smirk. "Master, would you then be so kind to show me the way to the dojo?" she asked in a sugary sweet tone.

Happosai placed his cup of tea onto the table and jumped to his feet with a smile. "Why, it'd be my pleasure, Felicia-chan," the old man exclaimed and walked out of the living room, Felicia stepping to his side after shooting Soun an evil smirk.

The Tendo patriarch looked after them with an unreadable expression before shaking his head and turning to his fellow master. "Why didn't you say anything, Genma? You didn't even speak up once!"

The neutral expression never left his face as Genma answered. "Because I've learned when to keep my mouth shut, Tendo. Sad it had to be my son's death to teach me."

To that Soun had nothing to say, and after staring at his friend for a few moments he shook himself out of his stupor and made move to get to the dojo.

-.-

Felicia and Happosai were ways ahead of the Tendo patriarch and had already entered the dojo, watching the spar that was taking place with interest. Both had masked their presence so that they'd be able to gauge how far Akane and her new fiancé Ryoga had come in a year, but so far it didn't seem too impressive.

In her mind Felicia was trying to correlate the images she had of Akane from Ran's memories with the here and now, and the silver-haired woman noticed two changes about the navy-blue-haired girl right away. For one, she'd let her hair grow out to shoulder-length, her hair being tied into a ponytail which had likely been done for training purposes. The other change lay therein that the girl had grown at least five centimetres, which still left her a good ten centimetres from Mara's and her height nonetheless.

As far as her fighting style was concerned she seemed to lay more emphasis on strength-based attacks in combination with soaking up damage, which suggested she'd to have done some toughening up similar to the Bakusai Tenketsu training. Speed-wise there hardly seemed to be a change, and as for the refinedness of her attacks, compared to Mara or her, this Akane was a charging bull.

She glimpsed at Happosai who was standing to her left, casually leaning against the dojo wall, and thought she heard him mutter, "Pathetic," and couldn't help but to agree. The girl had hardly improved nor refined the aspects of her repertoire that were as important for a martial artist as breathing, skill, technique and speed. What good were strength and durability if you couldn't bag the fight because you lacked not one, but all of the above-mentioned three attributes?

Should she have to fight this girl as well she wouldn't indulge her like her love had constantly done in his 'first life', her course of action would be to show her how much she was lacking as a martial artist. She wouldn't be needlessly cruel, but a lesson couldn't hurt, could it?

Soun, whose approach they'd noticed from miles away, spoke up in an almost dreamy tone. "This is the future of our schools. Great, isn't it?"

"Yeah, as great as a quadratic wheel," Felicia commented, her face holding a sneer.

Soun was looking as black as thunder due to Felicia's derogatory assessment, but Akane and Ryoga, who had stopped their spar and turned to face the newcomers when they'd heard the voices, which didn't say much about their situational awareness, stopped him from retorting. "Dad, what's he doing here?" Akane asked with a scowl, her clearly unhappy gaze directed at Happosai, but Soun, mindful of the Grandmaster's wrath, refrained from answering and made himself seem small as he slinked into the background.

Felicia watched with interest how Ryoga stepped forward and encircled Akane's waist from behind in what he probably thought was a protective gesture, and the Black Cat scoffed softly. From what her love had told her he'd have been clobbered to New York if he'd ever have dared act so 'perversely', and Felicia couldn't keep the scowl off her face. The palpable waves of anger rolling off of Happosai soothed her however, and her scowl gave way to a smirk before she pasted a neutral mask on her face.

"Mind your insolent tongue, whelp," the Grandmaster barked with his ki lacing his voice, and the effect made anyone except Felicia shudder, and Akane fold. "I already told your father, and I'll be happy to remind you as well, I don't have to explain myself to you. Being as generous as I am I'll indulge you anyway, so listen good for I'll only explain it once:

"When I gave your father the dojo as a wedding present a lifelong visiting right was entered into the land register, granting me the right to come and go as I please. That enough of an explanation for you?"

A heatedly scowling Akane was about to retort when Kasumi stepped into the dojo wearing her best angelic smile. The oldest of the Tendo sisters was carrying a plain-white bag with what appeared to be laundry in her left hand, and the smile never left her face when she held it out to Happosai. "Grandfather, you forgot about these after you left them in the closet a few months ago," she said innocently.

A quick glance around showed Felicia that the Tendos and Ryoga were hard pressed to keep the grins off their faces, and her scowl almost transformed into a grin when she saw Happosai's left hand blur to inside of his cloak to undoubtedly touch the undies he'd received from her Ra-chan, but she quickly pasted a neutral expression on her face. Then the Grandmaster took the proffered bag with a calm expression and looked inside.

"Mmmhh," he muttered and produced a set of black lace panties and bra. "I'd really forgotten about those."

Felicia noticed that the Tendos and Ryoga were readying themselves for something, likely an attack on Happosai whom they thought to be distracted – which suggested they thought they could take her on as well at the same time – but that the Grandmaster tossed the set of undies into the air, destroyed them with a ki-blast and quickly did the same with the bag caused gaping jaws and wide eyes and caused all plans to go up in smoke.

"While silky darlings are my one true joy, this particular brand leaves a lot to be desired. And more important, I'm here to see my dear Felicia-chan do some ass-kicking," Happosai commented calmly into the silence.

Soun in particular looked like he expected the world to end any second now, the others not being much better off. Happosai destroying 'silky darlings' was so far into the Twilight Zone it was considered all but impossible.

"Ass-kicking? What do you mean, pervert?" asked Akane who'd recovered first, and turned to Felicia. "And if you don't mind me asking, who are you and what is your connection to this dirty old man?"

**'So she can be friendly towards guests, who'd have thought,'** Felicia mused sarcastically to herself and schooled her features. "I'm Felicia Hardy, and this 'dirty old man' is my sensei. I'm also the heir to the Anything Goes style, if you must know," she retorted as arrogantly as she could, her nose turned up at the younger woman.

If Felicia's proclamation that Happosai was her sensei was surprising her declaration to be the heir was mind-blowing. A red aura sprang up around Akane and the young woman yelled. "What? That can't be!"

Ryoga added his own supporting comments, and a stone-faced Felicia who had her arms crossed underneath her breasts had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from smirking. "So, you want to challenge me for my position as heir or what?" she asked cockily.

"Hell, yes!" yelled an angry and determined looking Akane instantly, and was vocally supported by her fiancé.

"Master, will you allow another challenge to take place?" asked Felicia with her neutral expression still in place.

"`Another´?" mouthed a visibly surprised Akane.

Happosai just shrugged. "You can wipe the floor with all three of them for all I care. Maybe that'll teach them how unwise it is to oppose me, but I doubt it," he said, ending in a sneer.

A gleeful expression that was one-hundred percent genuine appeared on Felicia's face. "With pleasure, Master."

Ryoga scoffed and cracked his knuckles. "You seem to be mighty confident, Hardy-san," he commented in an almost derisive tone.

Felicia laced him with a haughty sneer. "I have all the reason to be," she retorted in a cold tone. "So, who wants to be first?"

"Not so hasty, Hardy-san," spoke up a voice from the door, a voice that almost caused Felicia to growl. "I hardly had the time to start a betting pool."

"Nabiki," Happosai said in a frigid tone accompanied by a bone-chilling look as he surveyed the young woman who was clad in form-fitting blue jeans and a white top. "I usually don't cater to wishes other than my own, but seeing as I want to place a bet or three as well I don't mind the wait."

The middle Tendo daughter, having learned not to annoy the ancient Grandmaster ever since his return from the USA, just inclined her head. "Good. I'm certain we'll have a great many who'll want to watch the fights, and my suggestion is for the said fights to take place in the garden instead of the dojo. The garden's spacey enough."

Felicia remained silent as Happosai pretended to weigh his options, and almost grinned when she saw the hard look on his face. "Accepted," he said, and a smirk appeared on Nabiki's face, only to dim when the old man added. "If you accept my condition."

A chestnut-coloured brow slowly inched upwards. "And what would that be?" Nabiki queried, her hands planted on her hips in a way that suggested she believed herself to be in full control of the situation.

The hard look remained on Happosai's face, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes. "Seeing as Soun and his youngest are so convinced that they'll win I want all bets on the fights to be made prior to the first fight. If a bet's made it can't be changed, simple as that."

"Hah! We'll wipe the floor with you, Hardy-san!" Ryoga exclaimed boastfully, and stepped to in front of his fiancée. "My dear Akane, love of my life and most important person to ever grace my existence,"

"Dear Kami-sama, who's writing his corny lines? He's worse than Kuno," muttered Happosai with a derisive shake of his head.

"-will you grant me the honour to challenge and defeat this gaijin in the name of the Tendo school?" he asked and went down on his right knee in complete ignorance of Happosai's snide remark, his brown eyes gazing into his fiancée's equally brown orbs.

Akane was visibly torn between the want to have the right of the first fight and giving in to Ryoga out of affection, so Felicia decided to tip the scales.

"Feh, you can just about give up, P-chan, regardless if you fight first or not. Master Happosai told me how flustered you get in front of women," she remarked snidely and unobtrusively showed off more of her assets by pushing her breasts up with her crossed arms.

"How dare you call me that!" Ryoga exploded and ignored Felicia showing off her body entirely, a red battle aura swirling around him, and Akane added, "Stop picking on my Ryoga!"

Felicia ignored Akane's outburst and just cocked a brow at Ryoga. "Can't stand the truth, pig-boy?" she asked cockily and wore her best infuriating smirk.

Happosai almost died laughing. '**But damn, now **_**she**_** can take a page out of Ranma's book! I hope those two marry soon and produce many, many heirs for the school,'** he thought and wiped away tears.

Ryoga predictably bristled. "And which truth would that be?" he asked and crossed his arms across his chest.

Felicia just kept on smirking. "Hand me a glass of refreshing cold water and I'll show you the ugly truth, all thirty bristly centimetres of it," she retorted, her own arms crossed beneath her bust.

"You evil old man, why did you tell her, a gaijin, of my Ryoga's weakness?" asked an infuriated Akane.

That particular reaction on Akane's part threw both Felicia and Happosai for a loop due to its unexpectedness, and the Grandmaster asked with narrowed eyes, "So the pig's out of the bag, eh? And you forgave him that easily?"

Akane wore a puzzled expression as she looked from Ryoga to Happosai. "Forgave him for what? My poor Ryoga received his curse during his valiant efforts to save me at Phoenix Mountain! Isn't it too cute he got the same form as my old pig?"

"Yeah, cute," muttered Felicia, who privately thought that Akane was every bit as dense in regards of her precious p-chan as Ranma had described.

**'Clever of the boy. Ranma is 'dead' and can't refute his claim, Mousse is back in China and Soun won't speak up seeing as having Ryoga as a son-in-law means strong heirs. Kasumi and Nabiki never gave an indication that they're in the know. He's living his dream by all accounts, but we will turn it into a nightmare. Eventually,'** Happosai thought grimly.

The Grandmaster and Felicia then shared a significant look that communicated they'd rather file this away for later use than make immediate use of it, and the Grandmaster's drilling gaze with which he speared Ryoga made the young man sweat. "So, got a curse, didcha? Interesting. And what a coincidence that you look exactly like dear old p-chan," he mused in a mock-thoughtful tone which made Ryoga sweat even more. "Anyway, hurry up with the decision of who's going to fight my heir first. We don't have all day," he added in a non-sequitur, and a small, evil grin tugged at his lips when he heard Ryoga's quiet sigh of relief, thinking, **'You ain't off the hook, boy, not by a long shot.'**

Akane huffed in Happosai's direction and turned love-filled eyes on Ryoga. "Of course you may fight first, Ry-kun. Show this gaijin what the true Anything Goes style looks like," she purred and gave Ryoga a peck.

Felicia scoffed. "The 'true' Anything Goes style? I assure you, girl, the true Anything Goes style neither looks klutzy nor piggish," she shot back.

Red battle auras sprang up around the lovers and heated glares were directed at Felicia, but the silver-haired woman didn't bat a lash. "You call that a battle aura? Hah. I could show you how it's done, but I'll save it for the fight."

Ryoga laughed. "You're just as arrogant as someone I used to know. He's dead now," he remarked maliciously.

Something flashed through the air faster than most could track, and a few moments later found a moaning Ryoga lying in a crumpled heap in the far corner. All heads turned to look from the downed lost boy to Happosai, who had his right arm extended, his pipe firmly held in hand. "One doesn't speak ill of the dead, pig-boy. And if I catch you insulting the memory of my first heir, the greatest martial artist amongst his generation, then I'll personally change you to a pig and skin you alive. Got it?"

The deadly serious tone as well as the unforgiving face Happosai showed made Ryoga nod in cowed acquiescence, and the Grandmaster whirled around in a blur, a ki-blast fired from his left hand reducing Akane's mallet to splinters. "Still attacking others from behind, I see. Pitiful. If you think that's how a martial artist acts then Felicia-chan will soon enough show you what a true martial artist is," he sneered, his gaze dismissing the seething Tendo heir as unworthy of his attention.

Seeing that Akane and Ryoga were powerless to handle the situation Nabiki decided to take charge and cleared her throat. "Why don't we relocate this to the garden now that the formalities are out of the way? I'm certain the first spectators are already there, and we wouldn't want to keep them waiting now, would we?"

"It's heart-warming you want their best, Nabiki, too bad for them 'their best' is their money," Happosai sneered contemptuously and made mocking air-quotes.

"Afraid to lose?" Nabiki shot back, a small, confident grin tugging at her lips.

"Not at all, but I want a definite answer on that condition I want included before I place my bets," Happosai retorted stone-facedly.

"Agreed. You have my word," replied Nabiki.

"And as we know how much that's worth you'll just love to learn that every word's been recorded, Nabiki-_chan_," Happosai commented matter-of-factly. "Go back on your word and you'll find out what I'm truly capable of."

Nabiki had to visibly collect herself but managed to paste her Ice Queen mask on her face. "Is that a threat? Do-"

"Daughter, don't," Soun spoke up, and his serious tone caught her attention. "The Master's no longer interested in our well-being without Ranma living here, and there's no one who could stop him. If you push it he'll unleash hell upon us all."

Happosai's aura flared, and his eyes gleamed an eerie red that sent shivers down – almost – everyone's spines. "Listen to your father, girl, for he knows how... creative I can truly get.

"The rules have changed, and I could care less what happens to you or your family, so if you're willing to face the consequences opposing me brings about then go ahead, by all means," he purred almost gleefully.

"O-Okay," Nabiki finally said with the barest hint of a waver to her voice. "I won't go back on my word. Can we get down to business now?" she added in an attempt to get back to safer grounds.

Happosai grinned, and Felicia was glad the grin wasn't directed at her. "But of course. Lead the way whilst I'll be mindful of backstabbers."

Felicia nodded sagely. "Very wise, Master. We wouldn't want to give those who showed they're willing to stab their as good as son-in-law, bro-in-law and fiancé in the back a chance to do the same to us. They threw him to the dogs and supposedly liked him, what would they do to someone they really hated?"

Indignant shouts rang through the air, yet a seething Akane was the loudest of all. "What would you know, huh? You didn't even know Ranma!"

Felicia's face contorted until it sported a malicious sneer that seemed completely out of place on her beautiful face and she whirled around to face Akane, a fire burning in her verdant eyes so fierce that it nearly made the youngest Tendo take a step back. "I knew him well enough from Master Happosai's stories to know he'd never have done what he was accused of, girl. I know what this Kuno girl confessed as well, know of his innocence. An innocence you would have believed in as well had you ever loved him. Don't tell others what they do or don't know if you yourself know nothing at all," she snarled forcefully, the sheer force of her anger making it impossible for Akane or the others to form a retort.

"Well spoken, m'dear. Now let's walk the walk after talking the talk. An old man would like to see some action, and skimpy-clad girls!" Happosai exclaimed and rubbed his hands in an exaggerated fashion.

Felicia turned to face him, her face an impassive mask as before. "The first I can serve you with, and you know my stance where the second is concerned," she retorted only half-playfully. "But I agree, my fists are aching for something to pound, preferably something from the Tendo school."

The glares from Ryoga and Akane and the glances from Nabiki and Kasumi were like water off a duck's back and were almost enough to make Felicia and Happosai laugh. After she'd recomposed herself Nabiki inclined her head and led the group – including an oddly silent Hibiki/Tendo couple – through the house. When they reached the living room their gazes fell upon one Genma Saotome playing shogi against himself while cheating with abandon, and while this was shrugged off by the females and Happosai Soun came to a full stop, a look of irritation on his face.

"Saotome, I couldn't help but notice that you're making yourself scarce today. Why, I could've used your help against the Master a few minutes back," he exclaimed and raked a hand through his hair.

"How so, Tendo?" queried the bandanaed man calmly.

Soun almost cried out in exasperation. "How so? The Master as good as confirmed our worst fears! He said that we are of no interest to him with Ranma dead and buried! You know what the Master's capable of doing to those that have fallen out of his good graces!"

Felicia, who'd come to a full stop in front of the koi pond, found that her face slowly began to hurt from holding the smile in, and she'd to resort to biting the inside of her lower lip to keep her expression impassive. **'Heh, seems someone's ready to run for the hills in terror. But I can gloat later, after I've given every single one of them a good ole ass whooping. Now to what Ranma's dad has to say.'**

"Uh huh. And what do you expect me to do now? Ranma's dead," **`not least thanks to your daughters' efforts´** Genma bitterly added mentally, "and it's hardly as if we can bring him back. All reasoning with the Master is useless if he's made a decision as you well know. So stop crying like a baby and accept you made a mistake. I have," he concluded solemnly.

Soun was left gaping and speechless, and it took him at least a minute to recompose himself. Then he turned around almost mechanically and walked out onto the porch, muttering, "We're doomed. The Master's gonna tan our hides and he talks about accepting our mistakes. The world's gone crazy. Teheh."

**'You're doomed indeed, Tendo-**_**san**_**,'** Felicia agreed inwardly, **'if only you knew just how much.'**

Happosai snorted. "It ain't the world that's gone crazy, Soun, so much's for sure, but now it's time for..." he paused dramatically, "the bets!"

"Then place your bets," Nabiki commented emotionlessly and pulled out pen and notebook.

The Grandmaster nodded gleefully and produced a large wad of cash, 3,000 Dollar in total. "I'm backing Felicia for a win for all fights, and bet 1,000 Dollar in each case."

Nabiki barely managed to keep up her impassive mask seeing as she was almost salivating what with the equivalent value of round about 300,000 Yen in play, and she almost greedily took the money which she made a show of counting. Nodding to indicate that everything was in order she noted down the pertinent data. "Noted. Now to wait for the others..."

Felicia snorted in amusement when the gate-bell rung not half a minute later, but a scowl made its way on her face as she watched the serene looking Kasumi walk down the path that led away from the koi pond, and when the young woman disappeared around the corner she couldn't help but to snort and think, **'Appearances can be deceiving indeed. A true angel would never have condemned my Ra-chan to the hell she'd to live through, but we'll reveal your falseness and hipocracy to the world yet.'**

While they spent their time waiting for the arrivals Felicia reached out with her senses and was surprised by the number of individuals headed their way. **'The more, the merrier, and the more of their friends are present the greater the humiliation will be,'** she thought gleefully.

That thought running through her mind Felicia sat down on the grassy soil Indian style and relaxed, waiting for the things to come.

-.-

Twenty minutes later the combatants were facing off like old time duellists, Felicia and Ryoga standing ten metres away from each other, the Black Cat at the north-west shore of the pond, Ryoga at the south-east shore. The spectators were standing a safe distance away with their backs to the porch, and Soun, Akane, Kasumi and Happosai were standing on the porch.

Felicia let a calculating glance wander over the people that'd come. Two of them she recognised right away from Ranma's memories, Akane's friends Yuka and Sayuri, who had come as well as Hiroshi and Daisuke (and were glaring daggers at Happosai in what seemed to be righteous female fury), and even Gosonguki had made the scene, all of them already having placed bets on Ryoga, Akane and Soun, respectively, which the majority of the round about thirty spectators had done as well. Both Kunos were absent, though, much to Felicia's private annoyance.

Just as annoying was the fact that Akane's female friends had made snide remarks upon discovering that her fiancé's opponent was a gaijin and Happosai's heir. Felicia hadn't reacted at all, but had vowed to throw it right back into the girls' faces once she had the fights in the bag. The Black Cat seriously asked herself however how her Ra-chan had put up with the perverted duo that was Hiroshi and Daisuke, two young men she'd identified from her love's memories as well. When their lewd comments had gotten too much she'd told them in a mock-friendly tone that she'd cut off their balls and feed them to the koi if they kept it up, and the fact that she'd addressed them in accent-free Japanese had caused bug-eyed stares and frantic nods.

Now with the preparations over the judge, none other than one Genma Saotome who'd been as surprised as anyone when Happosai had appointed him, was about to announce the begin of the fight, and Felicia could hardly wait. Her plan was to make an example of the Hibiki boy in order to sow fear in the hearts of Akane and her father, and she had no qualms about using her full strength. The fact that the Hibiki boy had been allowed to use waterproof soap to negate his major weakness suited Felicia well as it meant her opponent was at his best and couldn't claim to have been handicapped in the aftermath.

Genma gave the sign, and both combatants jumped high into the air to meet over the koi pond. Felicia, the faster of the two, had her right fist already reared back while Ryoga wasn't even half finished building up his attack, and her right hook connected solidly and powerfully with the lost boy's chin.

The force of the blow was so great Ryoga was thrown backwards the whole twenty metres to the perimeter wall that held the main gate, and thirty-four sets of eyes went wide when the young man was blown cleanly through the wall, presumably coming to a stop on the adjacent road if the repeated and frantic honking of cars was any indication. Felicia just smirked, well-knowing that the directionally challenged Hibiki was far from being out of the game, and due to SD she didn't even have to strain her ears to hear the shocked comments from the spectators.

"That strength... greater than Akane's!" mumbled someone the Black Cat thought to be Hiroshi.

"Far greater! She can't be a woman!" exclaimed a voice Felicia recognised belonging to Sayuri.

Felicia turned to look at the girl who quickly noticed the silver-haired woman glare her way, and the younger woman involuntarily gulped. "I'm more woman than you or your tomboy friend'll ever be, li'l girl, and to insinuate something different is to challenge me," she sneered, making the brown-haired girl flinch. "Now excuse me, I have to take care of a nuisance."

That said Felicia unleashed a volley of ten vacuum blades at the far perimeter wall, and crowed in glee when the section of the wall she'd been aiming at crumbled in on itself, burying the Hibiki youth who'd attempted a sneak ki-attack. "I know you're still game, pig-boy, so why don't you use your snout to dig yourself out?" she taunted, her hands planted on her hips in a challenging pose.

Soun whereas was as pale as a sheet. "She knows the Sealed techniques? How in the world could that happen?"

Felicia grinned when she heard Happosai's answer. "Do you take your Master for a fool, Soun? I, being the one who gave the original inventor of the techniques his inspiration, taught her seeing as she's my one true heir. That she learned this technique in one day only cemented her status. Neither you nor Akane or the pig-boy over there can hold a candle to her. Fools," he scoffed. "These fights will be like leading lambs to the slaughter."

"We'll see about that," muttered the heap of rubble angrily, and with a yell of fury the said rubble was blasted away in all directions.

"You're an uncontrolled fool, Hibiki," Felicia snarled as a blue aura sprang up around her which incinerated the debris sent her way. "To endanger innocents with your bouts of fury clearly shows you're still miles away from being a true martial artist."

Ryoga's face contorted in rage. "Shut up. I-"

Felicia cut him off with a gesture. "Tell it someone who'll listen, pig-boy. Your klutzy fiancée for example," she sneered, making the Hibiki steam even more. "Now less talk and more pummelling," she exclaimed and disappeared from view faster than the spectators could track.

Ryoga hadn't been able to keep up with her speed either and raised his guard on pure reflex, which didn't help any against the double-fisted jackhammer from behind that hit his kidneys. The blows hurt like hell even with the Bakusai Tenketsu training under his belt, and Ryoga forced himself to ignore the pain in favour of whirling around and firing off a right hook.

Felicia distantly heard Soun mutter. "What speed! It's unreal!" before she'd already disappeared again which made Ryoga's retaliation miss by miles. The Black Cat reappeared on one of the stones lining the koi pond, a big, mocking smirk on her face. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, slowpoke. But that's to be expected of someone who so obviously slacked off, pork for brains," she taunted, but was a bit alarmed when the lost boy snarled in complete, undiluted rage.

The sudden shout of "Shi Shi Hokodan!" rang through the air, and Felicia heard Akane gasp. "He promised he wouldn't use that move ever again! He promised!"

Felicia just shook her head in disgust and used her speed to reappear beside the youngest Tendo girl, which made the attack miss by miles. "Goes to show how much his promises mean," she commented snidely and watched a good section of the far perimeter wall explode, debris and dust being kicked up into the air.

Felicia's sudden appearance in front of her startled Akane and made her call upon her mallet on reflex, but the silver-haired woman casually caught the blunt instrument in her palm and crushed the mallet head, letting splinters rain to the ground, much to the utter bafflement of the youngest Tendo. Felicia's eyes widened and she hastily disappeared when she heard Ryoga grunt and summon the energy for a new attack, and with her fist deeply buried in his gut and a furious expression on her face she reappeared in front of him. "Are you fuckin' insane?" she yelled at the gasping young man. "Do you even realise what you were about to do? That attack could've hit bystanders! You were-"

"-about to win," responded a recovered Ryoga and fired a right-fisted punch at Felicia's face.

To his immense surprise the fist was caught with no difficulty and held in place by a vice-like grip, and furious green eyes glared up at the taller young man. "I don't know if that was a relapse into those old times Master Happosai told me about, but to endanger the lives of bystanders to ensure a possible victory is unacceptable and inexcusable," she snarled and batted off his repeated attempts at freeing himself like they were a child's feeble struggles against an adult. "Ranma used to think of you as a sparring partner and refrained from hurting you too severely, or so my Master told me, but if you ever run into me again and try something like that I won't hesitate to put you through the hell you always claim to have seen. Now lights out, piggie."

A surprised Ryoga had the time to blink before he was nailed by a crushing left-handed uppercut to the chin, and the audible crunching noise prior to him being launched into the air suggested a thoroughly broken jaw. Felicia didn't even turn around when she heard a wail from behind, but almost grinned when Genma Saotome walked over to where the young man had landed and kicked him in the ribs. Shrugging the part-time panda turned around to face the spectators, and announced. "Winner of Round One, Felicia Hardy."

Pandemonium erupted as everyone began to talk at once, and an inwardly grinning Felicia calmly strutted over to where Happosai was standing on the porch. On her way she passed a glaring Akane who hurried over to her unconscious fiancé, and just shook her head in amusement when the girl tore into Mr. Saotome for kicking her beloved in the ribs. She briefly stopped and turned her head to hear his response, and snorted when he said a man his age couldn't be bothered to bend down, and if she thought she could do it better she could go ahead. A smile tugged at her lips and she thought that Genma Saotome was, his greed and penchance for shortcuts aside, quite an okay man.

-.-

After receiving her congrats from Happosai amongst incredulous stares from the spectators Genma Saotome asked in his 'official capacity' when she wished for her second match to take place, and she could see that her answer of "Right away," didn't surprise the man. Giving her what she thought to be a respectful nod Genma arranged for the still unconscious Ryoga to be carried off the grounds by two 'volunteers', and Felicia took up position opposite from where Akane was still kneeling in the grass.

The silver-haired woman waited patiently for the other woman to assume a ready stance, and after ten seconds of kneeling Akane pushed herself to her feet, her glowering brown eyes drilling into Felicia. "What he did was wrong, yes, but you didn't have to be so hard on my Ry-kun!"

Felicia quickly made the decision to engage in some pre-fight banter and tsked. "Still got that blind spot where your p-chan's concerned, eh? 'My Ry-kun can do no wrong, it's all Ranma's fault!', eh? Pathetic," she spat and let her disdain show on her face. "Had Ranma lived I've no doubt that that bullshit would've carried on for all eternity. In some ways his death must've been like a salvation for him as he didn't have to put up with the shit you and the others heaped on him any longer.

"Yeah, the Master told me everything, girl," she pressed on at seeing Akane's shocked and incredulous look. "How you accused Ranma of perverseness without any grounds time and again to be proven wrong every single time, how you hit him at least once a day with that blunt instrument of yours, usually more often. That you helped him when he needed doesn't outweigh your sins, especially not if you factor in that you didn't help him when it really counted, didn't lift a single finger to help him prove his innocence but threw him to the dogs instead! You didn't deserve Ranma, and thanks to you, your sisters, your father and Ranma's mother, not to forget that bitch Kodachi Kuno, who so masterfully framed Ranma and played all of you for a fool, no one ever will."

Akane's initial anger had quickly been snuffed out by the block of ice forming in her stomach as the dirty laundry of her darkest hours was aired, and she barely resisted the urge to run crying to her room when the murmurs sprung up. Nabiki's attempts at damage control were neatly shot down by Happosai confirming what Felicia had said, and when he suddenly pulled out a DAT recorder and played the recording of Kodachi's confession – much to Felicia's surprise seeing as that hadn't been previously agreed upon – an uproar erupted amidst the crowd.

By the time the recording had finished the middle Tendo had almost suffered from a stroke seeing that she believed herself in possession of the single existing copy, and a coldly grinning Happosai commenting, "You're not the only one who can make recordings, girl," was the icing on the cake as far as Felicia was concerned.

The Black Cat allowed herself a smile. This revelation had been totally spontaneous and unplanned, but as the saying goes, a plan seldom survives first contact with the enemy, and the effects this revelation had produced were more than satisfying as they were far-reaching indeed. Voices were raised that demanded the Kuno girl be arrested and put on trial for her actions so that Ranma's good name be restored in the community while others claimed the recording was fake, and Happosai decided to take the bull by the horns and milk the situation for all it was worth.

"Well, Soun, now's your chance to tell everyone how Kodachi Kuno tricked you into believing the worst of your erstwhile almost son-in-law, and how it ended with an innocents' death," he said loudly, and jabbed the Tendo patriarch in the side with his pipe.

Genma, who had inched closer and was now standing no more than two metres away from Felicia was watching his fellow master just like anyone else, couldn't suppress the grin blooming on his round face. "Finally, finally the truth is getting out. Soon everyone will know that my son was innocent, and then the Kuno bitch will get hers, No-chan's opinions be damned," he muttered to himself.

Felicia turned her head to catch Genma's attention, and inclining her head she said. "Amen to that," eliciting a true smile on the Saotome's part. And then, acting on an impulse she wouldn't be able to explain in the years to come, Felicia whispered something that should totally rock Genma Saotome's world. "Saotome-san, listen closely now that everyone's distracted, and whatever it takes, don't react in any way to what I'll tell you now. Promise me."

A slight widenening of the balding man's eyes and a nod was her only answer, and steeling her resolve Felicia forged ahead. "Ranma's alive, and he's proud of you," she whispered intently, her serious green eyes boring into Genma's own, "This is no joke, this I swear! Ranma-kun survived and faked his death.

"The Master will gladly confirm it once we are in a more private setting. In fact, the master's in on it, and is helping us get revenge," she added, her serious expression turning slightly malicious.

Genma had somehow managed to keep himself from reacting to the news, and hope blossomed in his heart against his better judgment. "I believe you, and this is the best news in, well, ever. Why my heart is so easily convinced by your words I cannot say, but there's something about you I can't lay my finger on. Something that tells me I dare hope."

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm Ranma's girlfriend," Felicia whispered back impishly, "Or maybe because I'm a fellow serious practitioner of the Art and would never lie about a topic as serious as that."

Genma quirked a small smile. "That's good enough for me."

Felicia smiled back. "Anyway, Ranma-kun is living in New York now, under an assumed identity. I can't tell you more here other than that he's had a complete make-over and has cut his Japanese roots, so to speak. Due to circumstances I can't expand upon he's now a Caucasian and blends in perfectly."

A small ninja expertly hidden away from everyone's senses wiped away the look of utter surprise from his face with extreme difficulty, and a slow smile spread on his gopher-like face. **'Mistress will be pleased to no end by this news. If anything can get her out of her funk it's the news that her Ranma-sama is still alive, and that she'll be able to make it up to him. Yes, this is great! Now if only this Gaijin would come forward with Saotome's new name!'**

Genma Saotome shook his head in silent disbelief, a small, pride-filled smile playing in the corners of his mouth. "If it were anyone but Ranma I'd say you're crazy, but knowing him and how his life used to be it's perfectly believable. So, what kinda name has my boy chosen for himself?"

"I don't really know if I should tell you," Felicia replied hesitantly, her inner conflict showing on her face, "Even if you're his father, I don't want others to overhear us."

The Master of the Saotome school chanced a look around and noticed that all present still seemed to be busy discussing the unexpected revelation that his son was indeed innocent. "There's no one nearby who could eavesdrop, everyone's too damn busy gossiping 'bout what _they_ did." Genma said, spitting the word 'they' like a foul epitath. "So take heart and tell this old panda. After all, how should I justify a trip to the States – provided they'll ever clear me for international travel, heh heh – if not by saying I want to visit the son of an old martial arts buddy of mine I met on the trip?"

Indecision played on Felicia's face for a moment, then she sighed. "Aww what the hell. He goes by Randall Parker nowadays, but that's all I'm gonna say here. Experience's taught me that loose lips kill the cat."

Genma's eyes shown with gratitude, and the old man bowed briefly. "Thank you, Hardy-san. You've made this old fools' day."

Felicia smiled, and both martial artists swivelled their heads just in time to hear Happosai urge the Tendo Patriarch to come clean, and their expressions darkened in unison when the Tendo master finally reacted, his reaction consisting of him shaking his head. "Uh uh," the man replied and refused to say more.

Happosai's expression had darkened as well, and he was positively radiating malevolence and cruelty. "You're begging for the most hellish training trip of your life, Soun, so much worse than anything you've ever experienced before.

"Just you and me in the wilderness with no Genma to share your burden, panty raids, daring escapes from hordes of enraged females, oh, and not to forget, all the bathhouses we will 'visit'..."

Happosai paused, his face taking on a thoughtful look, which was then replaced by a look of (obvious) mock-sympathy. "Poor, poor Soun- having all the comforts of your laid-back life taken away from you will be such a shock... But don't worry, you'll forget all about it when I put you through the wringer. Oh yes, nothing but blood and sweat and so much fun to be had," he whispered cruelly and shadows seemed to be dancing on his face, making him seem like some kind of demonic entity. Felicia and Genma, who'd heard every word, grinned in unison; it seemed Soun would have his comeuppance.

The said Tendo patriarch had already begun to pale and sweat at the words 'training trip', but his resolve to keep face had crumpled completely upon learning that he'd be virtually alone and at Happosai's mercy. "I-"

Nabiki had recognised the danger signs quickly and covered the distance separating her from her father and joined him on the porch where she planted herself in front of him. "Daddy, don't! They have nothing in hand and can't prove that Ranma- eek!"

Happosai didn't seem to have moved from his position beside Soun at all, but the lacy red panty dangling from his right index finger was proof enough that he had. "You had best learn your place and fast, whelp, or I might just introduce you to some of the more esoteric pressure points I know," he drawled and stored the panty in the insides of his cloak, much to Nabiki's annoyance.

"That wasn't one of the cheap panties you usually steal, that one cost a lot of money, so give it back!" she demanded coldly, her irritation clearly showing through her mask, but had to settle for planting her hands on her hips in annoyance when Happosai refused to cooperate. "And besides, I bought an advanced guide to pressure points after what you did to Ranma. I am prepared, you-"

Happosai's malicious laughter cut her right off. "You really think a _book_ could help you? Girl, I've learned pressure points in my three-hundred years that haven't even been documented," he hissed, not allowing Nabiki to escape his boring gaze. "How'd you like being prone to random fits of exhibitionism? Be forced to strip in front of total strangers without the slightest bit of control? There a counter to that in your precious book?" he purred cruelly, and watched Nabiki pale and fumble for words for a retort.

Felicia found the possible punishment the Grandmaster had cooked up for the maniac control freak Nabiki Tendo and which he'd refused to reveal up till now absolutely fitting, and even worse than what her love had been afflicted with way back courtesy of the Grandmaster. "Wouldn't that be _the_ nightmare for someone always in control, to have absolutely no control over your actions?" the old man added with coldly glittering eyes.

The prospective victim had gone deathly pale as had many among the spectators, but Nabiki collected herself quickly due to her experience stemming from her business deals; her face sported a superior look as her hard gaze met Happosai's, and the young woman ignored the repeated attempts of her father in which he urged her to back down.

"I think you're just making that up. There are no such pressure points, or you'd have used them on Ranma when he opposed you," she said smugly. "And as for your so called evidence, you have nothing beside a recording that could just as easily be fake. In other words, there's no cold, hard evidence that Ranma was innocent. And who'd care anyway? He's as dead as a doornail, of no use to anyone, so why the fuss? Just for the reputation of a style that's totally disreputable? Besides, you wouldn't-"

A poke to just above the base of her neck applied by a furious Happosai so fast she couldn't even see it stopped Nabiki cold, and face turned expressionless. Smiling satisfied Happosai snatched his fingers in front of her face, and the old man nodded to himself when no reaction on Nabiki's part was forthcoming. "Still have it in me," he muttered, the smile never leaving his face.

"W- What did you do to my daughter, Master?" Soun queried tentatively.

Happosai turned his head and regarded Soun with a cold look. "I allowed your little Nabiki-chan a shot at finding out how Ranma must have felt, locked inside the insurmountable walls of that prison Ryker's Island with nothing but cold stone walls to stare at."

"What do you mean? All my sister's doing is staring off into space!" Akane exclaimed a bit heatedly.

Happosai turned his head and shot the youngest Tendo a glare, making her quail. "Do you really believe this is the extent of what I inflicted upon her? Her who is primarily responsible for having Ranma thrown into that hell-hole as a female? A girl of a kind the inmates there use like currency? Tsk, tsk, you don't know me very well, it seems.

"Have you heard of the locked-in syndrome, per chance?" he asked after heaving a mock-weary sigh.

"No, you haven't... You couldn't have..." breathed Kasumi in a barely audible voice before anyone could speak up, "Not even you would be so cruel..."

"Cruel, you say, my dear Kasumi-chan? You mean as cruel as throwing Ranma to the dogs, and I mean that quite literally?" Happosai queried steely, his eyes boring into Kasumi's, "Yes, you all made a mistake in believing the worst of Ranma, believed evidence cleverly fabricated by a madwoman, and for that you'll all have to atone, in your own ways."

"But why Nabiki-imoutou... why did you do that to her?" Kasumi almost begged, tears glistening in her eyes.

"You heard her. She'd have liked nothing more than to sweep everything under the rug. I do not know whether she did what she did out of loyalty to the family so that the reputation of the Tendo name doesn't take a hit or simply out of pragmatism because Ranma's dead, and I don't care.

"I want Ranma's name and by extension the name of my school cleared, and this punishment gives your sister a chance to experience what Ranma lived through. Maybe she'll learn from it, maybe she'll see what a mistake she made, and maybe she'll even come to regret her actions," Happosai concluded and looked up to the heavens before fixing Kasumi again, "Who knows?"

"But... But how do you expect her to learn when she's suffering from locked-in syndrome?" Kasumi almost demanded.

Happosai chuckled lightly. "You really don't know me well if you believe me this cruel. It's a temporary effect, of course, and the effects can last from a minute up to an hour and anything in between. The pressure point will fade away in about two months tops, but she's bound to lapse into episodes of being unable to move a single muscle in these two months."

A collective intake of breath seemed to take place and shocked exclamations were made. "WHAT?" exclaimed Soun and Akane in unison, their faces white from shock.

"It's true, father, sisters," Kasumi sighed, tears streaming down her cheeks, "A person afflicted with locked-in syndrome is aware of everything that happens around him or her, but he or she cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body. It is the result of a brain stem lesion in which the ventral part of the pons is damaged," she recited, her facial expression conveying how troubled she was, "That it can be induced by a pressure point is frightening," the young woman concluded with a shudder.

"An accurate depiction, Kasumi," Happosai nodded with an inclination of his head, "Then you also know that this condition has been described as 'the closest thing to being buried alive'. Just like the prison walls of Ryker's Island were the cage that confined Ranma, Nabiki's own body will be a cage to her.

"Of course, she'll know that the effects are but temporarily, but she won't know how long any one episode will last. I'm confident that this experience will help Nabiki understand what Ranma went through.

"I'm not needlessly cruel," he continued after a few moments, a wry smile spreading on his face, "not always anyway, but a walk in Ranma's shoes should do Nabiki some good."

"In French, the common term is 'maladie de l'emmuré vivant', literally translated as walled-in alive disease," muttered Kasumi almost to herself and shuddered.

"A terrible fate for those afflicted by the real thing yes, but then again, Nabiki-chan was the one who tipped off the authorities regarding Ranma's curse and her having to remain female up until her death. Maybe a watered down version will teach dear Nabiki some empathy," Happosai retorted calmly.

"I almost forgot how cruel the Master can be when he puts his mind to it, but the stupid girl literally dared him to do it," whispered Genma Saotome into the stunned silence, and Felicia couldn't help but nod; the punishment was, while fitting and deserved, cruel indeed, but Nabiki Tendo _had_ brought it on herself by annoying a dangerous man with a questionable set of morals.

And one could see from the look on Happosai's face that he was far from finished. "Soun, I suggest you keep your youngest on a leash lest she suffer the same fate. And we wouldn't want that for your baby daughter, would we?"

All colour had drained from Soun's face, and he didn't even have to reign in his equally pale youngest daughter who couldn't believe Nabiki's fate and was wide-eyed staring at her sister, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh my Kami-sama..."

"We're doomed," moaned the Tendo patriarch and shook his head in dismay, surprising those who'd have expected him to erupt in a full-blown demon-head in response to what Happosai had done to his daughter. "Why oh why didn't she listen to me? Without Ranma to hold his interest we're completely at the Master's mercy."

Felicia shook her head in disgust and had a hard time to correlate the image she'd of Soun from Ranma's memories of him being a man who'd bravely opposed Happosai alongside Genma Saotome a few years back with the man a few metres away from her. **'Somewhere along the way he must have gotten so used to relying on Ranma and alternately blaming everything on him that he forgot how to stand up for himself and others. Sad, really,'** she thought, and swivelled her head to look at Nabiki, who'd apparently just regained her senses.

The look of horror on Nabiki's face as she looked at Happosai was almost enough to evoke pity, but the furious fire burning in her eyes as she glared at Happosai after she'd recomposed herself her expression reminded everyone that it was Nabiki Tendo, Ice Queen, blackmailer and extortionist it had happened to. "What did you do to me!" the red-faced and downright furious young woman shrieked amidst incredulous – and in some cases decidedly amused – stares.

"Damn, it ain't every day you see the Ice Queen like this," muttered the one Felicia identified as Daisuke in what she thought to be a smug tone, and she almost laughed out loud when she heard his friend's comment. "Yeah, what goes around comes around and all that. No wonder the old perv's peeved, I'd be too in his place. Seems Ranma was innocent all along and she swept it under the rug. Wonder what'll happen now that she's studying at Tokyo U what with her going catatonic at random times?"

Hiroshi scowled darkly. "Serves her right. Might teach her a lesson or two 'bout how Ranma must've felt in that American prison, all caged in like an animal," he mused and scowled darkly, "I only ever heard rumours, but Ryker's Island must be a terrible place. Only fair she's gotta feel some of what Ranma went through."

Happosai, who found the comments surprisingly positive, looked at Nabiki oddly and made a tsking noise. "And here I'd pegged you as being the clever one of the family. Goes to show even I am prone to judgemental errors," he mused and shrugged. "Hey, nobody's perfect."

An abased scream of fury emanated from Nabiki, but Happosai focussing his ki on her in an intent glare quickly served to shut her up. "Now to the serious side of life, girl. What I'm doing is teaching you what Ranma must've felt all walled in within the dank walls of Ryker's Island. Do you know how horrible being confined to a tiny amount of space is for someone who's used to move about as freely as the wind? I can tell you a thing or two about it after being sealed inside a stinking cave for over a decade, and it's not fuckin' nice, let me tell ya!

"But that wasn't all Ranma had to bear, Nabiki. Super-powered inmates that were without inhibitions or conscience, the many hardships of prison life that'd have made just about anyone's skin crawl, and not to forget, Ranma was effectively locked as a female in a hostile environment, at the inmates mercy and just plain fuckin' sold down the river.

"In short, Ranma was living a waking nightmare, had to eat the worst food imaginable, and had to exist in an environment that only the strongest and toughest survive. I wouldn't even be surprised if the prison director and the guards either encouraged assaults or turned a blind eye to them. She had to always watch her back, always live in fear of the next attack, always wondering what she'd done to deserve this. I'm certain in the beginning she held fast hope that one of her 'friends'," the emphasis on the word was noticeable, "would walk through the door and tell her it'd all been a mistake, a tragic mix up, and that they were terribly sorry. But that never happened as we all know, too convinced you were of Ranma's guilt, too blinded by the supposed airtight evidence, and it must've crushed Ranma. But she refused to give up till the end.

"And you, Nabiki, contributed to Ranma's fate by handing _her_ to the morally unihibited inmates of Ryker's on a silver plate, a young, pretty, exotic woman. Fresh meat, in two words. Be glad that this pressure point only _simulates_ being caged in, girl, and not the whole of what Ranma went through."

"But why didn't you use these pressure points on Ranma when he stood in your way?" someone amongst the spectators asked.

Happosai stroked his chin before answering. "One reason, really. Humiliating him like this," he nodded at Nabiki, "would've been pointless. He'd have adapted and carried on regardless. Yes, he'd have been affected by it, no doubt about that, but he had an iron will that wouldn't have allowed him to back down. Ranma would _never_ have bowed to me, and that's why he'd have taken the Anything Goes far," he mused with a far-away look that gave way to a contemplative one. "Lashing out in anger against him during this one... regrettable incident is amongst the few things I regret to this day."

Happosai's answer seemed to satisfy the crowd's curiosity as no more questions were forthcoming, and the Grandmaster swivelled his head to refocus his attention on his victim. "Apropos regrets, you, Nabiki, ensured that my erstwhile heir suffered through months of hell on earth before his death, and now you shall suffer like this. This is my punishment, my revenge on you in Ranma's stead and maybe, just maybe you'll come to see just what you did to Ranma."

Nabiki was looking as black as thunder and waved a threatening fist at Happosai. "You went too far! I will-"

"Do nothing, girl," Happosai cut her off icily. "You're in no position to threaten me, and seeing as I'm easily able to prolong the effects of the pressure point I'd shut up and fast.

"And don't even think some kinda specialist could undo the affliction, girl. This is a personalised attack I used on you."

"I-"

"Shush!" Happosai hissed and began to wander around on the porch with his hands behind his back, Soun and his other daughters quickly making way for him, and when he turned around again his eerily gleaming eyes drilled into Nabiki. "My school never had the best reputation because I am... misunderstood," he annotated and ignored the disbelieving snorts which he'd expected in favour of looking as solemn as possible for his next words. "But none of our practitioners are murderers, least of all Ranma, who undoubtedly did a lot for this community and others. Now that people know of his innocence no one will stop me from clearing his name and that of my school, and gauging from the silence on your father's and sisters' parts I assume they understood the message I'm trying to deliver. Mess with me and suffer the consequences. So, if you want to dig yourself deeper go ahead and oppose me, by all means."

Seeing as no coherent reply was forthcoming on Nabiki's part Happosai allowed himself a small grin. "Wise decision, maybe there's hope for you yet," he commented and turned his head to regard the oldest Tendo sister now that Nabiki was dealt with. "Don't even try that disapproving look with me, Kasumi," he sneered with a glare in the young woman's direction, the fact that he used such a cold tone towards the as almost angelic regarded Tendo catching many by surprise. "The times I allowed it to affect me have long since passed. You of all people should've known best that Ranma would never have done what he was accused of, but what did you do? You took the easy way out and used the good ole 'It's all Ranma's fault' excuse, just like everyone else. And why? Probably because you thought it improper to go against the wishes of a family who'd already made up their minds. Well, if nothing at all it made you a co-perpetrator, and aren't those as guilty as the perpetrators themselves?" he asked, his tone of voice making it evident that it was a rhetorical question.

"Words can't convey just how disappointed I'm in you, and you'd do good to keep in mind to never presume again you have the right to lecture me on morals, girl. You lost that right when you turned your back on Ranma," he concluded, his words almost sending the young woman into a crying fit. "Oh, and I suggest you play 'guardian angel' for Nabiki for the next two months, for she's going to be an easy target during her episodes," he added knowingly.

"You mean it," breathed a pallid Nabiki, and almost broke down crying when Happosai shot her a cold look that belied his utter seriousness. "You really mean it."

Happosai looked her dead in the eye, his gaze hard and unforgiving. "You thought I was bluffing, that I'd let you get away scott free with what you pulled?" he demanded, and shook his head. "Of course I meant every word I said, girl. I always stay true to my word where serious matters are concerned. And clearing Ranma's name, even if posthumous, is one of my top priorities. You decided to become an obstacle when you foolishly tried to stop my student – your father – from spilling his heart, and you know what they say about obstacles. Lucky you I'm opposed to killing. Teaching you a lesson and making you go through a bit of what Ranma went through on the other hand, oh yes," he concluded seriously.

"I'd rather be dead than going through this," a beautiful young brunette girl amongst the spectators muttered.

"Yes, me too," the girl to her right agreed.

Tears appeared in the corners of Nabiki's eyes upon hearing these comments and others, and she realised that Happosai was deadly serious and would gladly teach her the lesson he wanted her to learn, and the enormity of what had been done to her and that she was powerless to force her tormentor to undo it as well as the effectivity of her punishment hit her like a ton of bricks. That most of the spectators seemed to think she deserved it made things even worse. Choking down a sob and masking it as a cough Nabiki looked up and into Happosai's unforgiving eyes. "Undo it... please?"

"Wow. Nabiki 'Ice Queen' Tendo knows the word 'please'," Hiroshi commented disbelieving.

"Yeah man, who'd have thought... And all it took was a little poke," agreed Daisuke in the same tone.

The Grandmaster nearly laughed out loud, but managed to keep his gaze hard. "What do you think, was Ranma granted any mercy in prison or before his death? I think you can figure out the answer and mine.

"And if you think of getting back at me keep in mind what I said. I could easily make it worse. Just a friendly warning," the Grandmaster concluded in a tone that wasn't friendly at all.

Happosai's not so veiled refusal and his threat to do worse in case she sought revenge visibly hit Nabiki with crushing force, and the young woman bowed her head to hide her tears before plopping to the ground like a puppet which's strings had been cut and allowed herself to go to pieces, her usually so strong and unflappable façade having crumbled to dust.

Soun Tendo sighed deeply as he watched his middle daughter for a few moments, then he pulled himself together with visible effort and shook his head. "That things have gone this far... It's all my fault," he muttered, and didn't erupt in a torrent of tears, to the surprise of many.

"Now we're getting somewhere," muttered Felicia only half-sarcastically with Genma nodding in agreement, and Happosai, who calmly lit his pipe anew, nodded as well.

"Dad-" Akane began.

Soun waved her off with a gesture. "No, pumpkin, I backed the decision to sweep it under the rug which makes it my fault. I didn't see the harm at the time, after all, Ranma was dead, and as Nodoka said, why disturb his honourable eternal sleep with the revelation of his innocence that'd have shaken up the community even more?"

Happosai snorted in disdain and speared his student with a glare. "I don't believe a word of the bullshit you're trying to feed me, Soun. Shaking up the community? Disturbing Ranma's eternal sleep? Hah! You thought me powerless, and gloated over my misfortune seeing as I, your 'tormentor', couldn't do much of anything about the situation, couldn't do jack shit to redeem the Anything Goes or Ranma, or so it seemed.

"But as so often, you underestimated your Master, for I bided my time and waited for an opportunity to strike back. And today it came. Nerima will know of Ranma's innocence, and his name as well as the name of the Anything Goes will be cleared."

Soun could only bow his head in defeat. "Yes, Master."

"So it's really true!" yelled Hiroshi from amongst the spectators, likely to appeal to his fellow spectator's emotions. "Ranma was innocent! I always said that!"

Soun nodded amidst the renewed murmurs and tiredly met the young man's accusing gaze. "Yes, every single word is true. Kodachi Kuno managed to trick us all, and fools that we were we believed the worst of Ranma. I hope he'll be able to forgive us one day," he sighed and bowed his head.

"Not bloody likely," muttered Felicia darkly.

Happosai's rock-hard gaze drilled into his student. "If you go back on your word and refuse to give testimony in court at the Kuno girl's trial, Soun, and there will be a trial, know that I'll destroy you and everything you hold dear. And don't forget, I have a recording of your confessions," he hissed dangerously, holding up his DAT recorder.

Soun knew he'd lost the battle and the war, and all attempts at damage control had long since gone up in smoke anyway. Now the only sensible thing was to forge ahead, and steeling himself he shook his head slowly and raised his head to meet Happosai's gaze. "I won't go back on my word, Master. The cat is out of the bag and everyone will know that Kodachi Kuno played us for fools, and to be honest, I'm relieved that the truth is out. Nodoka-"

"Ahh ahh," Happosai cut him off with a hand gesture. "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Soun, so lay it off with laying the blame. Nodoka will get what's coming to her when the time comes, rest assured. And let me give you another bit of advice, the more members of your family give testimony at the Kuno girl's trial, the better it'll look for you. Your rep's pretty much shot as it is, things can only get better from here on out.

"And no, I won't undo what I did to Nabiki, she brought it on herself, and maybe, just maybe it'll teach her something. I deem it just payback for what she did to my first heir, and if you factor in that she was the one mainly responsible for making Ranma's prison life a living hell it's more than deserved. I wouldn't be surprised if Ranma began to think of himself as a woman to the end thanks to your efforts," he concluded icily, and his comment stirred up a new bout of murmurs from the crowd.

Soun, who well remembered Happosai's unforgiving behaviour during the infamous Ultimate weakness Moxibustion incident (and other incidents), sighed in defeat and bowed his head. "I understand, Master. I still hope you'll change your mind and undo Nabiki's affliction, but I know that regardless of what I say or do, it won't change anything. Kasumi, would you be a dear and accompany Nabiki inside so she can recover for a bit?"

Nabiki was still too shocked by events to say or do much of anything, and seeing the state her sister was in Kasumi jerkily nodded and walked over to her middle sister and gently helped her to her feet. Then she took Nabiki by the hand and led the unresisting young woman into the house, muttering sweet nothings in her ear to calm her down.

"You know, things could have gone a lot differently, Soun," Happosai said nonchalantly, arms crossed behind his back in a laid-back posture. "If only you and yours had stood by Ranma in his time of need instead of choosing the easy way out he might still be alive, you'd still have your honour – or more of it than now – and I wouldn't have been forced to do the things I did. Remember this lesson well Soun, it's not always the primrose path that yields the best results. Maybe, just maybe you'll learn something from the choices you made and where they led you."

The Tendo patriarch sighed once more and nodded in grudging compliance with his head bowed and looked up at his erstwhile sensei. "I see it now, sensei, and I have also realised that our claim to heirship is lapsed. I declare Hardy-san the winner of all three fights, sorry to all those who backed us in their bets."

"But-" Akane spoke up amidst the uproar from the spectators, many of whom demanded they wanted their money back.

"No, don't say anything, pumpkin," Soun stated authoritatively and stared his youngest down. "We have proven that our honour and integrity is lacking for the time being, and truth be told, do you honestly think you'd be able to hold up even a minute against Hardy-san with the way she defeated Ryoga? Now isn't the time for foolhardy bouts of temper but for rationality, dear. We cannot refute Hardy-san's claim, nor do we want to."

Soun's speech had the effect of calming down the spectators due to the fact that he sounded honest, and Akane also visibly deflated and nodded her head after a few moments of breathing in and out deeply. "Yes, dad. But-"

Felicia kept her face impassive but inwardly she almost smiled due to the turn events had taken. "Don't worry, you'll get your fight if you wish for one, Tendo-san. I-" she interrupted herself and looked around wildly much to the surprise of everyone present, but Happosai suddenly doing the same suggested there was more going on than met the eye.

The Grandmaster nodded at Felicia, his expression grim. "I sensed him too, and he's gotten a lot better since my last stint in Nerima. He has too much of a head-start even considering our abilities, and there's no doubt he'll notify his mistress."

The silver-haired woman cursed like a sailor. "And there's no telling what she might do in her state…"

Akane swallowed and summoned the courage to ask the question that was on everyone's mind. "Who are you talking about? Who's going to notify who?"

Felicia swivelled her head and turned serious eyes on the youngest Tendo. "The one that ran away was the Kuno's ninja Sasuke, and he'll sure as hell blab everything he heard to the one ultimately responsible for this mess and the only one to conclusively prove once and for all that Ranma was innocent, none other than one Kodachi Kuno!"

**to be continued**…

Not much to say here. Would say the chapter speaks for itself. :)

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

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	16. Unforeseen developments

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 16: Unforeseen developments **

Sasuke Sarugakure, loyal retainer to the Kunos, literally fled the Tendo compound upon learning that his Mistress would be the next target of the more than formidable Grandmaster of the Anything Goes and this young gaijin woman named Felicia Hardy who'd so easily defeated Ryoga Hibiki. And gauging from how they'd crushed the Tendos, Nabiki Tendo in particular, things didn't bode well for his Mistress; and regardless if he approved of the things his Mistress had done or not, he'd sworn loyalty to either Kuno, and it was his kami-damn duty to warn the Mistress of the impending danger.

The gopher-like ninja was well-aware that his pursuers wouldn't waste much time in catching up to him, and he wanted to curse himself for letting his stealth slip which had allowed this gaijin Felicia Hardy and Grandmaster Happosai to sense him. Gnashing his teeth in determination Sasuke focussed all of his energy on coaxing even the last bit of speed out of his body as he dashed through the streets of Nerima, using every shortcut he knew.

A relieved grin almost spread on his face when the mansion of his employers came into view, and he allowed a sigh of relief to escape him. **'It seems my hard work of the last year paid off,'** he thought to himself as he entered the grounds with a flying leap, dashing right into the house, **'Mistress's likely in the lab, she always is lately,'** he mused and made move to get to the said room, only stopping from time to time to lay traps.

Almost out of breath Sasuke dashed into the lab and threw open the doors with a resounding bang, and instantly felt the dark and empty eyes of his Mistress on him. "What is the meaning of this, worm?" Kodachi Kuno queried in a dead tone, the same one she'd taken to using since the day she'd learned she had been the one to cause her Ranma-sama's death.

Sasuke suppressed a shiver both at the look and the tone as he surveyed his employer who was, as always since she'd learned of her blunder, clothed in black leather from head to toe, and the small ninja completely tuned out the strange looking concoctions standing on the workbench in front of his Mistress. The less he knew, the better for his sanity. "Mistress, Grandmaster Happosai, his new apprentice and a horde of people are on their way to our position! They learned of what happened to Ranma Saotome and your part in it from a recording Master Happosai made, and now they want to apprehend and try you! You must flee!"

Kodachi stared at her servant blankly until the information had filtered into her mind, then she threw back her head and laughed self-mockingly. "And where, my dear worm, should I flee to if I can't even escape myself?"

Sasuke turned his head sharply instead of answering the rhetorical question when he heard some of the traps he'd set go off in the distance, and Kodachi Kuno turned her head as well. "Flee, Mistress, while there's still time!" urged Sasuke pleadingly, "My traps won't hold them off forever, but long enough for you to escape!"

Kodachi Kuno, it seemed, hadn't listened at all and turned her attention back to the workbench as cool as you please. Sasuke watched in frustration as the Kuno girl began to mix ingredients in a potions flask, and Sasuke decided to bring out the big guns. "Mistress, I have just found out that your Ranma-sama's still alive! Please use the time I'll buy you to flee!"

Brown eyes looked dispassionately at the small ninja, not a hint of a spark of interest visible in them. "You would say anything in this situation to compel me to act, worm, and while I appreciate the gesture, misplaced as it is," she said, scorn dripping off her voice, "it is fruitless. I know in my heart that I killed my Ranma-sama, if not by my own hands then through my actions. Nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise," she concluded, her tone ringing with finality.

Sasuke bowed his head and sighed, disjointed thoughts running through his head. He'd never convince his Mistress of the veracity of his statement in the time he had left before the mob would arrive, for he lacked proof and the required rhetoric abilities to compel her to listen. And it was true, he **would** tell his Mistress anything to get her out of her funk, and she knew it.

The ninja gnashed his teeth in frustration and seriously played with the thought to just bash his Mistress over the head and get her to safety for a moment, but shot down the idea quickly. Well knowing that he couldn't do jack to change his Mistresses' mind the loyal retainer shoved his hands in his pockets and resolved himself to the only option open to him, namely to wait for the things to come, hoping against hope that things would turn out alright.

-.-

_A few minutes earlier..._

Felicia and Happosai were far ahead of the small group of 'brave' people they supposedly 'led' as they shot through the streets of Nerima like liquid lightning, the Grandmaster leading the way seeing as that was much quicker than for Felicia to access her 'knowledge' of the ward. The Kuno's ninja couldn't have had more than a two-minute head start, and with the way the Anything Goes Grandmaster was leading them through the mazes she was confident they'd catch up soon. That, and Sasuke Sarugakure was hardly top-notch ninja material as far as she remembered from the intel Ranma'd given her.

— _**While it stands to reason that he will be easy to beat I recommend to exhibit caution nonetheless. This Sasuke Sarugakure is known to rely on traps to beat his opponents, and it is questionable if he has not improved on them and other aspects pertaining to him in the time that has passed since Ranma's departure, —**_ SD cautioned.

**'Duly noted, SD,'** Felicia replied and followed after Happosai who'd just turned a corner, and the silver-haired woman almost crowed in triumph when she glimpsed upon the mansion Ranma had described to her more than once.

Happosai quickly made his way to the gateway, and Felicia's eyes widened when the Grandmaster unleashed a sizeable ki-blast at the obstacle in their path, blowing a giant hole in it. Afterwards he proceeded to shower the path ahead with a volley of vacuum blades, which Felicia would have considered overkill hadn't she known about the Kuno's penchance for traps.

After having turned the opulent yard of the Kuno mansion into a wasteland Happosai motioned for Felicia to follow him, and the silver-haired woman was quick to fall in step with the old man. Due to his knowledge of the vicinity they were quick to reach the steps and began to ascend the said steps as one. Frowning in distaste Felicia unleashed her own variation of Ranma's Moko Takabisha at the large doorway and stepped through the smoking hole.

"This hallway's an obstacle course, and you know what they say about obstacles?" asked a meanly grinning Happosai as he stepped to Felicia's side.

Felicia mirrored his grin, and as if on unspoken consensus both martial artists began to unleash energy attacks at the general vicinity, "Obstacles are for killing," the silver-haired woman quipped as hidden traps exploded or were turned to scrap metal amongst their onslaught.

Happosai carefully stepped over the debris with his senses stretched out to the maximum and nodded towards his student to indicate the coast was clear. "Let's speed this up a bit," the old man exclaimed with a boyish grin and blurred forward, the energy launched from his hands devastating anything in his way.

Felicia just raised a delicate brow at Happosai going into overkill-mode before following his example, and between them it didn't take the duo long to dismantle or just plain blow up any obstacle or trap in their way. Incidentally the others, a group of six, had caught up to them in the time it'd taken them to clear the path, and Felicia, who chanced a look over her shoulder, was a bit surprised to find Soun amongst them; Genma's presence was pretty much a given seeing that he was just as interested in bringing Kodachi Kuno to justice as they were, and Happosai actually stepped away from the large double doors, his face holding an unusually solemn expression.

"If you'd do the honours, Genma, this is the last obstacle in our path," the Grandmaster said, "And it's only fitting you be the one to remove it."

Genma inclined his head in a small bow, something akin to glee lighting up in his eyes. "Thank you, Master. Finally, finally the bitch's gonna get what's coming to her," he whispered, his face contorting minutely before he launched a volley of ten vacuum blades at the door's critical points, which caused both wings of the door to collapse inwards with a loud bang.

A large amount of dust was kicked up into the air, and Genma used the obscuring opportunity to disappear from view via the Umi-sen-ken, Felicia and Happosai following his example amongst gasps from the others. Hidden by their own inverted ki - and in Felicia's case SD's inherent abilities to boot - the trio made their way into the room. Sasuke was about to launch a diversion attack in desperate hopes his Mistress would see reason and flee, but Happosai and Felicia shimmering back into existence to either of his sides and both striking a blow to the neck threw a wedge into his plans.

Kodachi Kuno, still standing in front of the workbench with the potion flask grasped in her right hand watched impassively as her loyal retainer dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "Little fool. A Kuno doesn't flee, nor are they caught alive. Let me show you peasants how one of noble lineage dies," she whispered in the same dead tone she'd used before.

Genma shimmering back into existence right in front of the black-clothed teen startled Kodachi enough that she involuntarily removed the flask from her lips, and Felicia and Happosai, much as the others, held their collective breaths in anticipation of what was to come now. "You don't have enough spine to end yourself, Kuno. If you had you'd have done so the moment you learned you're responsible for my son's death," Genma snarled, red balls of ki glowing angrily in both palms of his hands.

Kodachi's previously detached expression turned into one of self-loathing, "Don't you think I've wanted to do just that ever since I learned my Ranma-sama and the pigtailed harlot known as Ranko Tendo are one and the same?" she shouted, but recomposed herself quickly after taking a few calming breaths, "But choosing so mundane a death like cutting myself and bleeding out is beneath a Kuno. Which is why I used my contacts and got my hands on these ancient herbs and poisons I used in this potion," she elaborated emotionlessly and held up the flask, the clear liquid within swirling almost hypnotically, "Isn't it fitting that that which I loved so much in life, my plants and poisons, will bring about my demise?"

Genma snorted disdainfully, "Then go right ahead, bitch. Rotting in prison's much too good for you, and I don't feel like paying tax for you."

"Saotome, don't egg her on!" Soun exclaimed urgently, "She needs to be tried so-"

"So that you can try to clear your family's name?" Happosai cut in scathingly.

"No! So that everyone knows Ranma was innocent!" Soun defended himself, yet anyone listening could tell it was a feeble excuse at best.

"You talk too much, Tendo," Genma shot in Soun's direction, "She-"

"Thinks you all talk too much, peasants. It's a given my Ranma-sama was innocent, but who cares any more? He's as cold as this world, so good bye," Kodachi muttered tonelessly, put the flask to her lips and downed the contents in one go.

The reaction set in quickly, and a convulsing Kodachi Kuno dropped to the ground like a ripe cherry amongst wide-eyed stares, the potion flask falling from her numb fingers and shattering into pieces. Genma's dispassionate comment, "Guess she had enough spine after all. Surprising," was met with a nod on Felicia's and Happosai's parts, Soun however was far from happy and silently lamented away to himself.

About a minute later Kodachi stopped moving altogether, and after waiting another half a minute Felicia bend down to check the other girls vitals, and immediately looked up, surprise evident in her eyes and exclaimed, "Seems you might get your wish after all, Tendo-san, she's still alive, even if barely."

"Figures she'd be too far gone to be competent enough to kill herself," Genma muttered darkly to himself and shook his head in displeasure whereas Soun wore a relieved expression which he wasn't quick enough to hide.

Moaning could be heard from the background and heads turned to look at the source to find it was Sasuke. The ninja bounced to his feet and assumed a defensive stance before looking around wildly, and a scream tore itself from his throat when his eyes fell upon his Mistress, "What did you do to her!" he demanded shrilly, his accusing eyes darting between Happosai and Felicia.

"Nothing except for listening to her speech," Felicia replied with a careless shrug, "The rest she did to herself by drinking this potion," she added and pointed her left index fingers to indicate the glass fragments.

Sasuke looked disbelieving for a few moments and then dropped to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. Not minding the glass shards he crawled over to Kodachi's body, the sound of glass splintering underneath his palms making a lot of people wince. Still weeping the ninja laid his head down on Kodachi's stomach and whimpered, "Why, Mistress? Why?" over and over again.

"Boy, have your skills dulled so much that you can't detect your 'Mistress' is still alive?" Happosai asked forcefully, disappointment permeating his voice, "And here I'd thought you'd made progress."

It took almost half a minute for Happosai's words to penetrate Sasuke's mind, but when the meaning hit him the Kuno retainer jumped away from Kodachi and bowed deeply with his hands clasped together, mumbling to himself, "Bad Sasuke's sorry for touching Mistress, so sorry!"

"Our loyal ninja seems to have a horde of bats in his belfry, eh, sensei?" Felicia queried with a raised brow, eyeing the spectacle a bit disbelieving much the same as the other attendees.

"Yep, he seems to have lost some of his marbles alright, Felicia-chan. Hmm, maybe the Kuno girl will still bite the dust if he continues to wail like that instead of getting help?" Happosai mused with a speculative gleam in his eyes, "Would meet with her wish to die, no?"

"Sasuke, snap out of it!" exclaimed Soun Tendo from behind and made his way toward the kneeling ninja, grasped his shoulders and began to shake him, the Tendo patriarch feeling prompted by Happosai's words to act, "If you call an ambulance she might still be saved!"

Sasuke looked up over his right shoulder with dull eyes and shrugged, "And what would that accomplish? They might save Mistress, and if they do they're gonna try her. Then they're gonna sentence her to death for what she did. So where's the sense in that?" he asked monotonous.

"If you won't call help I will!" Soun vehemently exclaimed, "Where's the nearest telephone?"

"Mistress had me booby trap it yesterday, and the floors leading to it as well," Sasuke said tonelessly, "So have fun trying."

While Soun collected himself for a convincing rebuttal Felicia let her ki spike to catch her sensei's attention, and once she had it the silver-haired woman mouthed, "Do you want to allow Soun to talk that ninja into saving the Kuno girl? I'd say it'd be fitting she dies."

Happosai stroked his moustache for a moment as he thought deeply and looked up at Felicia once he'd arrived at a decision, "Fitting, yes, but we cannot be sure that that which she ingested will really kill her. She said herself that the ingredients of this potion were ancient and thus their properties unknown, so who knows how they'll take hold? I say it's better to hand her over to the authorities now that she ain't a danger, and to ensure she's properly tried."

Felicia inclined her head in thought as she went over Happosai's words, and the woman couldn't help but to agree with the old man's reasoning, "Good thinking, old man," she jabbed, causing the said 'old man' to sport a fake-pouting expression which made the silver-haired woman smile in spite of herself, "So it's agreed, Soun Tendo can have his go at convincing the ninja."

"Yeah, let's see how my old 'student' fares," Happosai muttered back with a gleam in his eyes and fell silent to watch the events unfold, Felicia following his example suit.

-.-

Soun Tendo had tried to use the few seconds the exchange between Felicia and Happosai had taken to come up with a compelling argument, but seeing as nothing worthwhile was coming to the fore he just schooled his feature and adopted a serious demeanour and opted to say the first thing that came to him, "You ask why you should help your Mistress, Sasuke? Because it is your duty as her servant. No, hear me out and think for a moment. Think! What would the community say if it was to be revealed that your Mistress killed herself not like a honourable samurai, but like a common coward, with poison? What would they say?"

"They... They would laugh even more at the ancient and noble house of Kuno," sighed Sasuke abashedly and looked at Soun with hopeless eyes, "But don't they already? Mistress' actions caused the death of Ranma Saotome, and before he was framed by Mistress and imprisoned as 'Ronin Ranko' he was held in high regards in the ward. And all that just because Mistress couldn't accept that he was cursed to become a girl, the redhead she so loathed! Everyone will know!"

Soun paused to sort his thoughts before retorting, "There's no shame in not believing in magic. I didn't either prior to Ranma's and Genma's arrival, and what she did to Ranma... Well, it was just a matter of time until someone would get in a lucky shot. That she managed to was coincidence, it could just as easily have been Mousse or one of the others," he reasoned.

"Coincidence and a lot of devious planning," muttered Felicia in a disgruntled tone, to which Happosai nodded.

"Yeah, but Soun's surprisingly doing a rather competent job," he commented and absently scratched his moustache, muttering silently so that only Felicia could hear him, "Only good that I've been recording every word since Genma broke down the door. Now there should remain no doubt that poor Ranma was framed."

Felicia nodded with a bright light shining in her eyes while Sasuke seemed to be thinking that Soun's arguments were convincing as well as was evidenced by his contemplative and undecided expression, "But fact remains that it was Mistress who did it. And that will be a tarnish on the houses' honour that'll weigh heavily upon it," he muttered with a sigh.

Soun pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and decided to risk incurring Happosai's wrath, "A tarnish it'd suffer from anyway should she die now. On the other hand, it might even be decided in court that she did what she did in a state of diminished responsibility, and the house Kuno could wash their hands off her actions. Maybe she'd even finally get the help she so obviously needs," he suggested and did his best to steel himself for the ki-filled glares he was sure would come.

But they didn't come as Happosai limited himself to a glance at Felicia who nodded back, indicating that they'd allow Soun to have his attempt until he either succeeded or failed. Letting out a relieved sigh Soun looked Sasuke straight in the eyes, "You must choose now, Sasuke. Instant dishonour for the House Kuno, the House you've sworn to serve, if she dies, or the possibility of a trial that holds the chance that House Kuno may wash their hands clean and get your Mistress much needed help. What will it be?"

All who watched could see beads of sweat on Sasuke's forehead as the ninja who usually just followed orders was suddenly confronted with making a life-altering decision, and it was apparent he didn't like being in this spot, literally between a rock and a hard place. The Kuno's retainer glanced from face to face a little helplessly until he noticeably turned his focus inward, closing his eyes in silent contemplation. Silence stretched out for several minutes and Happosai in particular was tempted to take action to speed things up, but then Sasuke opened his eyes, a hard glint in his eyes.

"I am responsible for Clan Kuno, meaning for _both_ Master Tatewaki and Mistress Kodachi. Mistress' actions will shortly be known throughout the ward regardless of what I choose, and they will bring great dishonour, so I have no choice," the gopher-like ninja scrunched up his face, "It is more important the Clan's honour not be damaged than what Mistress Kodachi would want. Happosai-sama, Hardy-san, call the police and an ambulance. I will help disable the traps."

The Anything Goes Grandmaster and his student exchanged a satisfied look and turned their heads in unison to look at Sasuke. "As hard as that probably was on you, it was a wise decision you made there, Sasuke. And those are always the hardest."

Sasuke scoffed and kept his head bowed. "And why does my heart feel like it shattered into a million pieces?" he asked unhappily.

"Because your sense of duty is warring with your common sense, which is perfectly understandable. Luckily your common sense won out in the end," replied Happosai and patted the much younger man on the shoulder, subtly tapping a pressure point to lighten the young ninja's mood. "And now let's call the authorities."

-.-

The sky had continuously darkened and rain had begun drizzling down on Nerima ward, and it were five disgruntled police officers and three worn out paramedics plus the doctor on duty who stepped on the premises of the Kuno compound.

Lieutenant Yamaka, an average looking police officer in his mid-thirties and the designated leader of squad nine, the unfortunate squad that had had the bad luck to be sent to deal with the first 'Kuno situation' in almost a year, let his experienced gaze travel over the grounds, and his eyes briefly widened at the destruction that had been wrought. Whoever had entered the Kuno grounds had packed some serious firepower.

"Tadoka, Kotaga, follow me. Hurano, Yamura, you stay with the meds. We'll call you in once the perimeter is secured," he ordered in a gruff tone and began to move, secure in the knowledge that his orders would be followed to the t.

Hearing his subordinates move behind him Yamaka stepped through the destroyed gateway and sharply inhaled upon the sight presented to him. "Holy Kami-sama! Looks like a warzone!"

"Can say that again, Chief," agreed the only female on the team, Akemi Kotaga, amidst agreeing grunts from her colleague, not stopping in her stride as she followed her leader.

Firming his expression the Lieutenant stepped through the hole, only stopping briefly to look over his shoulder, "The caller said they'd be in the room down the hallway. Let's not keep them waiting, shall we? But mind where you step. We know from previous incidents that the Kunos are fond of using traps."

Kotetsu Tadoka and Akemi Kotaga nodded their assent, serious expressions that were all business on their faces. Exhibiting as much caution as possible the three police officers made their way to the main building and the stairs that led up to it, and once they'd safely crossed what they'd - rightfully - believed to be a minefield three sets of eyes appraised the sizeable hole that had been made into the large two-wing door, low whistles and similar exclamations escaping them.

Shaking his head Lieutenant Yamaka summoned his courage and cautiously walked up the stairs. Following their leader's example Sergeant's Kotaga and Tadoka cautiously ascended the flight of stairs as well and followed the Lieutenant through the large hole in the door, firearms drawn. The first thing the three officers did was look around as they'd been trained to do, and after the trio had silently communicated that the coast was clear they allowed themselves to relax just a bit.

A disbelieving snort escaped Sergeant Tadoka's lips as he appraised the devastated hallway. "Would've never thought to see something that gives my daughter's room at its 'best' a run for its money. Kami, looks like a hurricane blazed through!"

Hideo Yamaka and Akemi Kotaga couldn't help but nod despite the fact that neither had an inkling of how the room of Tadoka's seven year old daughter looked at its worst, and the trio advanced carefully, always ready to use their guns at a moments' notice. Despite the officers' suspicious natures - which wasn't alleviated in the least by the hallway's devastated state which would have offered a small army suitable hiding spots - no attackers leapt at them from hidden places.

The group of police officers proceeded cautiously down the corridor until they reached an opening that led to another room, the double doors that'd formerly served as the entrance cleanly blown of their hinges. Firearms drawn they slinked forward, ready to act on a moment's notice, and Tadoka performed a sideward roll into the room on Yamaka's sign, his firearm aiming directly at Happosai.

The Grandmaster stared at the officer with a bored expression from his position on the workbench and tsked. "Took your sweet time, didncha?"

Tadoka scowled at the old man and was about to utter a scathing reply when suddenly he felt a heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder, and one look into his superior's face stopped him cold. "Don't, Sergeant. This is Grandmaster Happosai, and special ops has a folder on him longer than your arm. He could demolish us all in a few seconds flat without breaking a sweat."

Turning to Happosai Yamaka bowed curtly, stopping briefly to acknowledge the others in the room. "Happosai-sama, I apologise for the delay, but we had to make sure we didn't run afoul of booby traps. Not everyone has your abilities."

Kotaga and Tadoka (who'd in the meantime put away his firearm) shared a confused look at how subservient their normally so tough superior was acting in front of this seemingly harmless old man, but knowing their commanding officer for as long as they did and being trained professionals they followed his lead without question.

"Not to worry, Yamaka-san," Happosai replied and waved his hand airily, an amused smile showing on his face at the brief look of surprise on the Lieutenant's face, "And don't look so surprised, I seldom forget a face. Especially of someone who acknowledged my heir.

"Anyway, the Kuno bitch here," he pointed his right hand behind him, "did herself in. She's hanging in there barely, so if your meds hurry up she might just survive. Not that I care, but seeing her trial might be fun."

"Trial?" Yamaka asked, confusion showing briefly on his face.

"Ahh yes," Happosai exclaimed and snapped his fingers, "you don't know it yet, do you? Turns out I was right all along, my student Ranma Saotome was innocent, framed by this bitch lying half-dead on the ground."

"I assume you got proof?" Yamaka queried neutrally, only his cocked right brow belying his interest.

"Ample proof, in fact. A recording I made when Kodachi Kuno boasted to me and others that she'd framed Ranma, and a just recently made recording that cements it. You should find it very interesting," Happosai replied, just the hint of a smug smile playing on his face.

Yamaka inclined his head. "Off the record, I always thought there was something fishy to the whole case. Saotome, as much property damage as he may have caused, was always there to protect the innocent and to do what was right, so him doing something like that, committing fivefold cold-blooded murder just didn't add up. And all the hush up with that 'Ronin Ranko' business that happened afterwards was… suspicious."

"He… He knows about the curse?" Soun uttered in surprise.

"I do. Ranma changed in front of me when he stopped an attack on a money transporter. He… She saved the guards and a few officers this day without even expecting gratitude or praise, and it's something I've never forgotten," Yamaka replied, lacing Soun with a pejorative sidelong glance.

"Finally someone with two brains cells to rub together," Genma snorted quietly, causing Felicia to snort amusedly.

"And you are?" Yamaka inquired, the peevedness of his tone communicating that he'd perceived what Genma had said.

"Genma Saotome, Ranma's father. And I just wanted to say that I'm glad that there're still people in Nerima who can think. Seems to me that this skill has dulled in a lot of people around here," he concluded with a pointed glare at Soun.

"I see," Yamaka mused with a curt nod of his head, his hostile attitude disappearing, "And I must admit that I'm looking forward to examining the proof. If what you say is true a great injustice can be alleviated, and even if it's too late for Ranma, maybe it'll give his soul the rest it deserves."

"About that, shouldn't the Kuno girl get help now?" Soun asked and wet his lips nervously, "I mean, it would be easier to uncover the truth with her alive, wouldn't it?"

"Now that it's too late for Ranma he can't wait to 'uncover the truth', eh? Pathetic," Felicia spat, her eyes shooting daggers at the Tendo patriarch.

"Too true, my dear. I must've been really drunk when I decided to make him my student," Happosai muttered sagely, and almost scoffed when not even the hint of a rebuttal came from Soun.

"Anyway, see to it that the Kuno bitch is brought to the hospital, Lieutenant Yamaka. She's more useful alive for the time being," the Grandmaster said to the policeman.

"Will do, Happosai-sama," Yamaka said and tipped an imaginary hat. "Finally being able to arrest the Kuno girl and levelling charges against her fills me with satisfaction. Tadoka, call in the meds and the rest of our team, pronto. Let's get her to hospital."

Sergeant Tadoka complied with a nod of his head and muttered instructions into his walkie talkie, and Genma Saotome sighed with relief. "Finally, finally this madness ends and everyone will soon know that my son is no murderer. Not that I ever believed it myself," he said with a contemptuous glance at Soun.

"How right you are, Genma. All it would've taken was one good, long look at Ranma's character to convince just about any person with a single viable brain cell that he was innocent, but it seems those were in short supply where certain Nerimans are concerned.

"The Americans I don't blame, the faked evidence was just too overwhelming and the public opinion to fired up for them to have bothered to dig deeper. I just hope they'll feel at least some remorse when they learn the truth," Happosai said softly.

"Trust me, they will," Felicia spoke up with conviction, "Us Americans may come off as headstrong and arrogant due to our inert belief in our values, but we believe in fairness and will admit fault when we're off the mark."

"We shall see. Human behaviour is so unpredictable that it gives even me a surprise every now and then," Happosai mused with a sidelong glance at Soun and calmly lit his pipe, "And while some may wish to be able to undo their actions it is as so often that the past is set in stone, and hindsight is twenty-twenty and just no good."

"Too true, Master. If wishes were horse then beggars would ride," muttered Felicia a little scornfully and glanced at Soun, "And the righteous wouldn't have fallen off their high horses."

"Amen to that, Felicia-chan," Happosai said, his eyes twinkling with amusement especially since Soun seemed unable to mount a defence, "Amen to that."

-.-

Ten minutes later the comatose body of one Kodachi Kuno had been taken into the ambulance, and a handcuffed Sasuke Sarugakure had been allowed to go with his Mistress, waiting in the ambulances' back for them to move off.

The small ninja had willingly accepted being temporarily stripped off his skills by a pressure point courtesy of Happosai to get permission to accompany his helpless Mistress (whose threat level had been deemed so low that not even an officer was standing guard), and watching Kodachi Kuno lying there on a gurney, all pale and motionless as if dead almost broke his heart.

"Why didn't you listen to me, Mistress?" the ninja asked with his head bowed, a single, crystal tear trailing down his cheek, "Why didn't you believe me that your Ranma-sama is still alive?" he whispered.

Silence answered him, and even though there was no danger of him being overheard simply due to the fact that the doctor and the para-medics (safe one who was sitting in the driver's seat) were in the process of being debriefed by the Lieutenant now that they'd done everything in their power to ensure his Mistresses' survival, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to talk in more than just a whisper.

"Had you just fled you could have gone to see him in New York, and who knows, maybe he'd have forgiven you and you'd have had a chance at living your dream. But now you'll never find out if he could've been yours," he sighed.

A sudden change in atmosphere prompted Sasuke to look down at Kodachi Kuno, and an involuntary gasp escaped him when he glimpsed upon eyes as black as space itself. A part of him wanted to feel elation at the fact that his Mistress had woken up against all odds, but his instincts were screaming at him that something was very wrong here.

"New York, you did say, worm? My darling Ranma-sama lives in New York?" Kodachi Kuno queried in a voice that was oddly detached, and Sasuke couldn't take his eyes of those of his Mistress, jet-black pupils that were slowly shrinking until they had reached a normal size.

"Y-Yes. H-He survived, f-faked his d-death and ass-assumed a n-new identity, calling himself R-Randall Parker," Sasuke stuttered nervously, not really knowing what to expect from his Mistress.

Kodachi Kuno considered the words for a few moments before erupting into laughter. "My Ranma-sama survived, I survived. It's meant to be. Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha!"

"Hey! What's going on in there?" the paramedic who served as the driver called.

Kodachi Kuno closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate, a smile appearing on her face. "I feel... connected to it all. This... power! This control! Come, come to me!"

Sasuke, who'd come to the conclusion that his Mistress had lost even the last vestiges of her sanity, suddenly tensed when his trained senses picked up on a change. It was almost indiscernible, but the ninja was certain something was about to happen, and whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Then, suddenly, a surprised cry erupted from the front of the car only to stop abruptly, and Sasuke felt chilled to the bone.

"Worm, get to the front and take care of our unintentional helper, then take us to the private airport, and do it stealthily. I want nobody following us. Now go, I have things to attend to," the young woman commanded in a voice that sounded tired.

"Y-Yes, Mistress," Sasuke replied, "There's just one little p-problem... Happosai-sama temporarily sealed off my s-skills, I can't remove the cuffs."

A tired sound escaped Kodachi Kuno. "Now that'd indeed pose a problem, wouldn't it?" she mused and got to her feet, stretching for a bit and generally working out the kinks; then she removed the hairpin that held her ponytail in place and in a few seconds flat the handcuffs were lying on the ground.

"Now do as ordered and leave me be," the changed gymnast ordered and absently waved her right hand, dismissing Sasuke.

Using his agility the said ninja climbed to the front of the car, and the sight he glimpsed upon made him swallow nervously. The paramedic who'd been left with the job of driver was sitting in his seat, but that was where the normalcy ended.

The man's eyes were closed and Sasuke wasn't certain if he was still breathing; ascertaining this fact was made a tad difficult by the factor that countless plant roots had found their way into the car and had crept up all the way to the man's neck, ensnaring hands and feet as well in what appeared to be an unbreakable grip.

"How in Kami-sama's name...?" muttered Sasuke to himself, and shaking his head quickly a few times helped him to focus, and being careful not to touch the plants in case they were poisonous he reached into a hidden pocket to retrieve a shuriken. He had just set the weapon to where the plants entered the car and had made a tiny cut when a commanding voice resonated in the car.

"Stop, worm!" Kodachi Kuno spoke in a tone so serious that Sasuke dropped the weapon, and he was just about to ask what his Mistress meant when suddenly the plants began to retreat, removing themselves from the paramedic's body and the car in under ten seconds.

"Okay, now I'm really freaked out," muttered Sasuke in a tone that sounded weirded out even to his ears, and shaking his head once more he concentrated on the man, checking his pulse. "Hmm, faint but steady," he muttered to himself and let out a sigh of relief. He then checked the man's reflexes and even looked at his eyes by lifting the lids just like he'd been taught to, muttering to himself, "Seems like he's in a low grade coma. Pheew."

"This peasant was just doing his job, and he helped me even if only because his oath bound him to do so," Kodachi spoke up, still sounding tired, "Being who I am I knew exactly how to induce unconsciousness without killing him, and be sure to remember, worm, I am no murderer."

"Y-Yes, Mistress," Sasuke replied meekly (not daring to remind her that she was indirectly responsible for the death of the five teens the clone had killed), and suppressing the shudder that ran up and down his spine at the implications of what Kodachi had said he reached for the handgrip and pushed open the door, and he let the unconscious paramedic carefully down to the pavement.

A few moments later the man had been expertly hidden behind some underbrushes.

"Good worm," sounded Kodachi Kuno's voice from the backside just after Sasuke had closed the door, "Now get us out of here, and don't worry your insignificant mind about little things like those peasants catching up to us. I have it taken care of."

Sasuke silently asked himself just what his Mistress meant, but knowing that he wouldn't find out anyway he floored the accelerator and sped away.

-.-

**Ten minutes earlier**

A myriad of emotions flashed across Genma Saotome's face as he stared at the spot where Kodachi Kuno had collapsed, and his initial unhappiness over the decision to allow Sasuke to call an ambulance slowly faded when the thought popped up that the insane girl might die still. He didn't even spare a glance at Soun whose motivation behind trying to save the Kuno girl's life was as clear as crystal (as far as he was concerned) and opted to ignore his former best friend altogether. His expression turned stoic as he surveyed the girlfriend of his son, Felicia Hardy.

The young woman wasn't just stunningly beautiful, she had proven herself a powerful and skilled martial artist, and just as important, she appeared to be in control of herself anytime. A look of approval appeared on Genma's face only to be replaced by a frown when the thought popped up that he'd overlooked a lot of Akane's less than attractive traits in his hell-bent bid to unite the schools. He'd been as myopic as Mousse, that much he could admit now. But hindsight was twenty-twenty, and despite Ranma still being alive he'd never attempt to join the schools again, neither through Ranma nor through any descendants he might have. He'd been thoroughly cured of his aspirations by the past events.

**'Apropos crazy, it might be a good idea to see if we can find stick-boy,'** Genma mused, and walking towards Happosai he cleared a path through the room until he came to a stop in front of the old man who stopped talking to Felicia in favour of looking expectantly at him. "Master," he began, inclining his head in respect, "I just had the idea that it might be good to look for the Kuno boy. He might be of some help."

"Good idea, Genma. He might even be willing to testify against his sister," Happosai mused with a nod.

Soun nodded as well. "Akane said-"

"I don't care what Akane said," interrupted Genma coldly, "The Master's already given his consent, it simply doesn't matter."

Soun made a put upon face. "But I just wanted to say that Akane said," Genma wanted to interrupt Soun again at this point but Happosai subtly shaking his head stopped him, "that the Kuno boy had been acting even stranger at school than usual, and he hasn't showed up at all for the last two days. Maybe Kodachi's poisoned him!"

"A thought worth consideration, and it just means we have to find the boy and render assistance if he's to be of any use to us," spoke up Felicia.

"Of any use?" queried Soun, his face showing indignation.

"Master, if I may," Felicia said with a glance at Happosai who nodded, "Stones and glasshouses, Tendo-san, and that's how you and your daughters treated Ranma when he'd have needed you the most notwithstanding."

"Huh?" Soun asked intelligently.

"The assumption that you wanted to further yourself by having Ranma marry your daughter isn't too farfetched. So don't preach something you don't practise yourself," Felicia said coldly, her green eyes two chips of ice.

"That's an outrage!" Soun exclaimed incensed, "I-"

"Could you throw your tantrum while we look for the Kuno boy, Soun?" Happosai interrupted sarcastically.

"O-Of course, M-Master," Soun replied obediently, caving like a house of cards.

Happosai turned on his heel and marched out of the lab with Felicia and Genma flanking him, muttering about "Jellyfishes" and "backbone".

-.-

The impromptu search party found Tatewaki Kuno passed out on his bed. The young man was lying face down on expensive black silk sheets, a line of drool running out of the left corner of his mouth, and he didn't react at all to external stimuli. Happosai quickly hopped onto the bed and examined the scion of House Kuno with the techniques at his disposal while the others stood aside, the serious expression never leaving his face.

"Whatever got into his system sure did a number on him," the old Grandmaster mumbled as he went about pressing pressure points here and there, a slow smile spreading on his aged face when the boy he was tending to began to groan. "He's out of his sleeping beauty like slumber and should wake up within an hour. Whatever Kodachi used on him wasn't truly dangerous and will be flushed out of his system in an hour tops, and-

"Incoming!" he suddenly yelled as his senses picked up on an immediate threat.

Felicia, Genma and even Soun switched into ready stances, but they were nonetheless surprised when hundreds of roots of all kinds closed in on them from all sides. "What the fuck!" Felicia exclaimed, eloquently summing things up.

"Don't underestimate these things!" Happosai exclaimed in a warning tone, "These are without exception poisonous, and I don't want to find out if they carry a paralysing agent or something worse!

"Soun, sling the Kuno boy over your shoulder while we deal with the situation!"

The Tendo patriarch obeyed Happosai's command and watched in something akin to morbid fascination as the thorny vines and roots rapidly slithered toward them, closing in from all sides; he couldn't help but feel like being in one of those Gaijin horror movies, except for the fact that this was reality. And then Happosai and Felicia turned loose, firing ki-blasts left, right and centre, but the green kept on coming, creeping alongside walls, ceiling and the ground.

"We'd have to find the source to stop this mutated twine, but I don't feel like making the effort. I'm a Martial Arts Grandmaster, not a gardener," Happosai grumbled, reducing yet another root that'd tried to attack from above to smithereens, "Felicia, transform and hack your way through it. I doubt that it'll have an effect on you in your upgraded state."

"Are you serious?" Felicia queried in a tone that suggested she thought he'd lost his marbles, "What about him?" she added with an inclination of her head at Soun as she blasted yet more vines.

"Don't worry about him," Happosai retorted, mirroring her actions, "If he blabs I'll bury him, no questions asked."

Felicia shrugged in acceptance while Soun paled at the seriousness of Happosai's tone. "I think you're off your rocker, but hey, everyone's gotta be a little crazy every now and then."

"What in Kami-sama's name are you talking about?" yelled Genma while fending off several simultaneously attacking vines, "If you got a way to end this quickly use it!"

Felicia sighed minutely and muttered that she'd regret it later before nodding. **'SD, let's use your original design with a standard facemask, no maw. That'll make it harder to link us with our alter ego.'**

— _**Understood, Felicia. A wise precaution indeed, —**_ SD replied and instantly began to cover her host until she'd formed the original combat suit, replete with randomly moving tendrils.

Soun and Genma gasped in unison, but their eyes got really wide when wicked and extremely sharp looking blades formed where Felicia arms should have been, blades that the costumed young woman immediately turned to good use. Not a minute later a lot of destroyed flora littered the ground, and Felicia briefly looked over her shoulder. "Don't be standing there like statues, let's get outta here!"

Happosai, who'd given his apprentice an appreciative once over, had already been on the move with ki-blasts primed in each palm and barked, "You heard her, boys! Move your sorry asses!"

Genma was the first to shake himself out of his stupor, and he elbowed Soun (who'd yet to climb down from the mattress) firmly in the side. "Come on, or have you gotten so useless that you can't even carry an unconscious man?" he sniped.

Soun frowned angrily but didn't reply, opting to finally step to the ground. Genma whereas scoffed and turned to follow Felicia and Happosai, sensing that Soun was following as well. Hopefully they'd get some answers out of the Kuno boy.

-.-

The light shower of rain that had passed through Nerima ward had long since abated and a few hesistant rays of sunlight peeked out of the clouds every now and then, but the weather conditions were largely irrelevant to the group of twelve that'd finally made their way out of the Kuno mansion. It had taken the four martial artists, their unconscious comrade and the others almost half an hour to leave the large house, and to some it had been very exhausting thirty minutes.

Not only had the plants put up massive resistance, the martial artists of the group had also had to rescue the medics and Lieutenant Yamaka's team who had been forced to retreat to the kitchen, only to be effectively trapped there. The non martial artists had been at the end of their rope and had been defending themselves with kitchen implements and assorted improvised weaponry seeing as bullets had proven completely useless; they'd unsurprisingly been very relieved when the cavalry had arrived, having quickly made short work of the annoying and persistent green.

"Wheew, I've never seen anything as crazy as that in all my long life," Happosai breathed as he watched the mansion from a safe distance, "And that's saying something."

"Yeah, you can see even now how these... plants won't stop meandering 'bout the property. Just good that everyone made it out alive and unharmed. That could've gone a lot worse," Genma added, wiping sweat from his forehead before retying his bandanna.

Soun, who'd lowered Tatewaki Kuno onto one of the grassy fields surrounding the mansion, nodded with a shudder. "Remember what those plants did to that dog? It was out cold in under ten seconds after those thorny plants had gotten to it!"

"Don't remind me," Genma muttered, suppressing a shudder, "Those... plants were high on something incredibly potent."

"Just what the hell happened in there?" Lieutenant Yamaka demanded without addressing anyone specific, "I mean, I've never seen plants, plants!" he added, throwing his hands into the air for emphasis, "behave like that! 'twas right out of some bad B-movie!"

"I had the distinct impression that the plants were being... controlled by someone or something," Felicia spoke up (who had in the meantime morphed the combat suit back into normal clothing), kneading her lower lip with her left thumb and index finger, "And even though they were fuckin' annoying, I can't help but feel that it was a diversion."

"A diversion?" Sergeant Hurano asked, a frown appearing on her face, "What for?"

"That's what we gotta find out," Happosai said decisively and marched down the driveway before any more comments or questions could come up (especially pertaining to Felicia's 'costume') that could cost them valuable time.

Felicia and Genma shared a look and followed Happosai as one with the police officers, the medical personnel and Soun not far behind, and walking around the curve Happosai calmly stated, "And here's our first clue."

"The ambulance! It's gone!" Doctor Hashigawa immediately exclaimed, shock and worry not just flickering over his face.

"Exactly," Happosai nodded, looking from face to face, "The question now is, what happened? Was the driver overwhelmed and kidnapped or did something worse happen?

"Seeing as there's not enough data to even speculate we'll have to investigate. I suggest we assume the worst for now," he finished.

"Agreed," Lieutenant Yamaka nodded grimly and turned to his subordinates, "Kotaga, get a search going for the ambulance and issue an arrest warrant for Kodachi Kuno," he ordered and the Seargant complied immediately, "Team, and everyone else," he continued once his subordinate was done, "we'll be searching the perimeter in teams of two. Hurano, you're with me, Tadoka, Kotaga, you take a medic each, and I suggest that you form teams for yourself, Grandmaster."

Happosai nodded and looked at Felicia. "Felicia, you're with Genma, Soun with me. Spread out!"

The command given the search began and the teams moved out, all in the eerie silence that now enshrouded the Kuno grounds like a blanket.

-.-

Felicia and Genma were making their way through the well kept underbrushes that surrounded the Kuno compound, and the young woman could sense that Ranma's father was just about bursting at the seams to ask questions. Turning to the right she grinned at her co-searcher. "Shoot, Saotome-san."

"Call me Genma. And what?"

"Felicia. And it's hard not to notice that you'll probably kill yourself if you have to keep your curiosity in check for even a minute longer," she grinned.

Smiling sheepishly (the smile reminding her very much of Ranma) Genma nodded. "What was that in there, Felicia? I mean, that... thing you transformed into?"

Felicia's demeanour changed to one of seriousness, and Genma instinctively stood more attentive. "It's an experimental personal body armour that enhances every aspect of its wearer. It was made by the American inventor, scientist and all around genius Reed Richards."

"Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. I've heard of him," Genma nodded solemnly, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Head stuck in the clouds, but seems to be an okay guy."

"Yeah, that's Reed," Felicia nodded with a smile, "He'd probably forget all about Sue's and his anniversary and make up for it with a dinner on the Moon," she giggled, causing Genma to snort amusedly.

**'Sorry for the deception, SD, but I feel this cover story's safer than the truth for the time being,'** Felicia apologised while Genma and she continued to search in companionable silence.

— _**Perfectly understandable, Felicia. You did not even lie, seeing as Reed Richards invented the device that created me, — **_the symbiote pointed out.

**'Hey, you're right!'** she thought back before suddenly exclaiming, "Hey Genma! Here's something!"

Genma's head jerked over to Felicia's position just in time to see the silver-haired woman bend down (internally commending his son on his good taste) to look at something behind one of the tall bushes. "Found him," she said then in a grim tone as Genma walked up to her, "Looks like he's been strangled until he lost consciousness, or what do you think?"

Genma, who was now kneeling to the other side of the paramedic's body, repeated what Felicia had already done and checked the man's pulse, noting (just like she had) the marks on the man's neck. "Agreed. Guess it's safe to assume that he was attacked by some of those mutated flora thingies. But that's all just too..."

"Convenient?" Felicia supplied, her own brows cocked.

"Yeah," Genma grumbled, rubbing his stubbly chin, "If I didn't know better then I'd say that..."

"What?" Felicia asked after Genma had trailed off, "That the Kuno girl somehow got the ability to control plants?"

"Yeah," Genma muttered grudgingly through clenched teeth, "But that's too... too bizarre!"

"Not really, Genma," Felicia sighed and rubbed her temples, "If you'd seen just half of the shit I've seen over in the States this'd have been your first assumption. I mean, genius scientists who inject themselves with a serum to restore the arm they'd lost just to turn into a man-sized lizard with enormous strength, another scientist who's been turned into an insanely strong muscle-bound jade giant by gamma radiation, oh, and not to forget a certain team of four astronauts who were given super powers by cosmic radiation," she listed with just a touch of irony in her voice.

"It ain't too farfetched if you put it like that," a sweat-dropping Genma muttered, his face scrunching up with frustration, "Regardless of what happened, Kodachi Kuno got away, and she has too much of a lead for us to catch up. She could be halfway to Brazil by now."

"Yeah, or to God knows where," Felicia agreed, her facial expression conveying her displeasure, "Let's tell the master what we found, he won't be pleased. God knows I ain't either."

"Not pleased is the understatement of the year, Felicia," Genma grumbled, "Seems anytime something comes up that could help Ranma it goes up in smoke. 's bloody annoying, that's what it is."

"Amen to that," Ranma's girlfriend agreed wholeheartedly. "Well, let's tell the others we found the paramedic."

"Agreed," Genma grunted, "Let the other medic's work their magic on him, then we'll hopefully get some answers."

-.-

Tideo Hadoka was fading in and out of consciousness and blearily perceived voices talking, his mind in a fog, until suddenly it all came back to him, and he sat up with a gasp. His right hand went to his throat on reflex and the paramedic took a deep, gulping breath. "I'm... alive?"

"Easy there, Tideo," Doctor Hashigawa spoke up and eased his subordinate back down onto the grass while the other bystanders watched, "Yes, you're alive, and we're very glad. I don't particularly care to have to train a replacement, you know," the man joked, eliciting a weak grin from the paramedic, "Now catch your breath and don't strain yourself overly, you can just as easily tell us what happened lying down."

"Yes, Hashigawa-san," Tideo sighed, laying his head back down into the grass, "Well, I was sitting there in the ambulance waiting for you guys to finish up when suddenly tendrillars literally invaded the car. It'd to have been thousands, and before I could do more than scream they'd completely entwined around me. The plants then began to suffocate me, and the last thing going through my head before everything went black was 'Now that's a shitty way to go, killed by your very hobby,'. Then I woke up hardly a minute ago, and while I'm surprised I'm very happy to be alive."

"I quite believe it, Tideo," the doctor chuckled and quickly took the man's vitals, "Aside from a mild case of shock, which is to be expected, you're perfectly healthy. I'll recommend a few days off anyway so that you can recover from the ordeal."

"Thanks, Hashigawa-san. I appreciate it. I'd really like to spend a few days with my wife and daughter," Tideo replied in honest gratefulness.

"That's the only sensible thing to do after such a brush with death, Hadoka-san. It's situations like this that open our eyes to how corruptible all things are, and how important it is to seize the day not just for work," Happosai spoke up, calmly puffing his pipe, and after the paramedic had nodded his assent the Grandmaster added, "Say, did you have the impression that the plants that attacked you were acting like they were controlled by someone or something?"

"Well, I'm a hobby botanist and I've never seen plants behave like that. So yes, I guess I'd have to say they seem to have been controlled, somehow," Tideo said after a moment's thought.

"Thank you, Hadoka-san. You should rest now, that ordeal must've been exhausting," Happosai said and patted the paramedic on the shoulder, subtly using pressure points to aid the man's recovery by sending him into a deep, regenerative slumber, before turning to the doctor, "Say, Hashigawa-san, how about you have a look at the Kuno boy? Maybe he can shed some light on the going ons."

"Capital idea. With Tideo out like a light," Doctor Hashigawa shot Happosai a suspicious look who just shrugged innocently, "that's exactly what we'll do. Hikaru, Takahiro, tend to him and see that he gets a full check-up while I see what I can do for the Kuno boy."

"Yessir," the paramedics agreed and set out to carry out the doctor's orders.

Felicia grinned and popped her knuckles. "Then let's get us some answers and possibly more ammunition to help clear Ranma's name, even if a little too late. But better late than never, eh?" she said and couldn't help but to needle Soun while giving him a significant look.

"Indeed, my dear, indeed," Happosai commented and leisurely followed the doctor over to where Tatewaki Kuno was lying on the grass, dead to the world. "As the Kuno boy is wont to say, the vengeance of heaven is slow but sure. Or something like that."

-.-

Tatewaki Kuno slowly became aware of his surroundings as his consciousness returned, and briefly wondering at the clarity of his thoughts he decided to bite the bullet despite what might await him, that being the sight of his wretched sister and all that entailed, the young man cracked one eye open and flinched at the bright light hitting him. He blinked his eyes for several seconds adjusting to the daylight and groaned before looking around, taking note of the people standing around him.

Blinking once more at the realisation that he was not somewhere in the Manor (the last location he remembered being anyway) but lying on soft grass Tatewaki pushed himself up on his elbows, a groan escaping him.

"Don't overexert yourself, Kuno-san," an unknown voice spoke up from his left which prompted Tatewaki to swivel his head to regard the speaker, identifying him as a doctor, and he was just about to reply when another voice spoke up.

"Young man's made of stern stuff and should be sufficiently recovered to function normally," Happosai said, calmly puffing his pipe, "The poison shoulda been flushed outta his system by now."

"You!" Tatewaki exclaimed and his face darkened before sporting confusion, "Are you not that wretched old man who commits all kinds of perverted acts?"

"I did do some... morally questionable things in the past, yes," Happosai agreed whilst taking another puff.

"And you helped me? Why?" Tatewaki asked in honest confusion.

"Master? May I?" Felicia spoke up, and Happosai nodded, curious as to what his newest student would say.

"And who might you be?" Tatewaki queried as he pushed himself into a sitting position, his head tilted to the right, "You're obviously not from around here, and I cannot recall ever having seen you before, for I'd have remembered someone of your beauty. And let me commend you on your mastery of my native tongue."

Felicia smiled and inclined her head. "Thank you. Don't take this the wrong way or interpret it as my being interested in you seeing as I'm spoken for, but my, you're not nearly as bad as I was told. I am Felicia Hardy, and I hail from New York City."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hardy-san. I am Tatewaki Kuno, and please excuse my not giving you the greeting a lady deserves," the young Kuno said with a smile that was a far cry from former times in that it was normal, which made not just Genma and Soun cock their eyebrows. "And do not worry, I won't obsess over you. Whatever happened to me has left me with clarity of mind I've seldom felt before, sadly."

"Sadly?" Felicia queried, her left eyebrow climbing into the hairline while the others around her were echoing her sentiment.

"Yes," Tatewaki sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them a forlorn expression shown in his brown orbs, "sadly. You see, when my mind was still clouded I could convince myself that it had never happened, that the pigtailed girl was still alive. That my sister hadn't done what she did."

Felicia lowered herself onto the grass, coming to sit Indian style in front of Tatewaki, the look in her eyes urging him to continue. "What did she do?" she asked despite knowing it already.

"It seems like a lifetime ago that my twisted sister crowed that she'd finally rid herself of the pigtailed girl whom she believed to be a rival in her attempts to ensnare... Ranma Sao...," Tatewaki suddenly stopped himself, a look of horrified realisation appearing on his face. "But the pigtailed girl never was... for she... he..."

"Looks like you were hit by a clue-by-four, boy," Happosai commented surprisingly neutrally if not pityingly, "Figured it out, didn'tcha?"

"But... But how can that be? Is it really as Sao... Ranma claimed?" Tatewaki asked in a voice of someone whose world had just come crashing down around his ears, "Magic?"

Genma sighed. "I hate to play the circus animal, but has anyone got a bottle of water on hand?"

"Genma old friend, do you think it's wise?" Soun queried, his expression communicating just how unwise he thought Genma's plan.

"Yeah. If it means we can convince Tatewaki-san here that magic's real it's well worth it," Genma retorted with a neutral face and added, "Especially if it helps clear my son's name."

Soun fell silent and slinked a bit into the background, fact that didn't even bother Genma. "So, anyone got water?"

Everyone present shook their heads after a cursory search and Doctor Hashigawa was about to go fetch the bottle of sterilised water they kept on stock in the paramedics' med kit when Felicia, sighing internally, reached into her left coat pocket and retrieved a pink bottle. She casually handed it to Genma with a muttered, "Here, but I want it back."

Genma's eyebrows climbed into his bandanna as he accepted the bottle, his confusion stemming from the strange design of the drinking vessel that depicted an (apparently) female horse rearing up on its hind legs, a white mare specifically, but his eyes widened distinctly when he read the lettering the mare was bearing, namely Mara N. Parker. "T-Thank you," he replied with a barely noticeable waver in his voice.

"You're welcome," Felicia smiled, the twinkle in her eyes convincing Genma even more that he'd interpreted the meaning of the bottle correctly.

**'Mara N. ... If that ain't an anagram for Ranma my name ain't Genma. So Felicia seems to accept both Ranma's forms, probably more than just acceptance if this is anything to go by. Interesting,'** Genma thought before uncapping the bottle. "Doctor, what you're now about to see can't go any further, and I will **not** become a test subject over it. Bad enough I gotta live with it, even if I've come to terms with it."

"What is that 'it' you're referring to, Saotome-san?" Doctor Hashigawa wanted to know.

"This!" Genma exclaimed and upended the contents of the water bottle over his head, and the stocky man was immediately replaced by a much bulkier panda sitting on its hind legs. # _Magic's real, doc. __**Very**__ real as Ranma and me found out years ago._ #

Tatewaki's eyes widened briefly, then he put his head in his hands and shook it repeatedly. "All this time... All this time I accused Ranma of being a foul sorcerer, and in the end he was the one afflicted by magic. Oh the irony," he muttered and fell silent, oblivious to the others as he hung to his thoughts.

"W-What... H-How..." the Doctor had stammered, and he was still rubbing his eyes a minute later as he had apparently trouble believing what he was seeing, "T-That just can't be!"

"Trust me, it _is_ real. And you get used to it after a while," Lieutenant Yamaka commented casually, much to Happosai's amusement while Genma and Soun had disbelief written on their faces due to the officer's reaction.

"I can see why this was never reported," Doctor Hashigawa muttered with an amused snort after he had recovered, "They," he turned his head to indicate the martial artists, "kept the crime rate down and dealt with dangerous situations the police would've been hard pressed to handle while you, as in the authorities, swept the knowledge of this magical affliction under the rug."

"Precisely," Happosai answered with a solemn nod and stopped to exhale smoke from his nostrils, "It's an arrangement that became necessary after my heir's dual nature was revealed, and both sides benefitted from it."

"That we have," agreed the Lieutenant, nodding.

"Ahh. So the panda-man here is your heir?" the doctor queried curiously, making Genma grunt indignantly at being called 'panda-man'.

Happosai's reaction to the doctor's question was more severe, and the darkening of his eyes didn't go unnoticed by anyone, but Felicia spoke up before the medic had a chance to (inadvertedly) really put his foot in it. "No, Genma-san is the Master's student, yeah, but his son Ranma was Master Happosai's heir."

"Never met a finer young man. Or woman," Lieutenant Yamaka said wistfully amongst the nods of his subordinates. "Got to know him... Her... during an attack on a money transporter. Wasn't much we could do seeing as the attackers were heavily armed, and one of the fellas woulda shot me hadn't a raven-haired blur pushed me outta the way.

"Saved my life, Ranma did, and even though he changed genders right in front of me due to the bullet hitting a water pipe she carried right on and saved the day. Couldn't believe it when I heard what happened in New York. I always said that there was more to it as did a lot of others, figured that Ranma'd been framed, and seems I was right."

"Back up for a second here... So this Ranma changed genders, similar to how Genma-san here changes into a panda? Due to magic?" the doctor queried disbelievingly.

"Here we go again," Happosai sighed, a bored expression on his face, "Well, let me tell you the very tragic tale of Jusenkyo, valley of the cursed springs..."

-.-

Ten minutes later Doctor Hashigawa (and the officers as well as Tatewaki, who'd been listening raptly), had been brought up to speed pertaining to the sacrifice reactors that were the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. The range of reactions had consisted of quiet disbelief to horrified amazement (especially at learning what kind of horrible animal curses existed), yet the proof that it was true (as had been demonstrated by Genma) had been irrefutable even to the man of modern medicine and science Hashigawa, and the initial disbelief had faded into reluctant acceptance.

Felicia had explained her take on why Happosai had set out on panty raids in the first place afterwards (aside from it being fun and literally energising), the reason in her opinion being that he wanted his students, Genma and Soun, to stand up to him, to find ways, any way (hence Anything Goes) to stop him.

She surmised Happosai had been impressed by the ploy that'd led to his imprisonment in the cave, hence why his revenge on them had been very mild compared to what he _could_ have unleashed on them, and that'd he'd have to have been very disappointed that they'd allowed him to walk all over them ever since his break-out.

Felicia further expedited something she already knew, that Ranma had to have been something akin to a fresh breath of air in that he'd been strong-willed, talented and skilled, and while in the beginning vastly inferior to the Grandmaster he'd proven that he never gave up or backed down, and he'd done what his older students had failed to do, stand up to him, always.

The silver-haired woman smiled sadly. "In short, he was the perfect heir, wasn't he?"

Happosai lowered his head so that none of the bystanders could see his face, but when he looked back up his gaze was steely. "In one word, yes, to everything you said, Felicia-chan. The panty-raids were, while great fun and my way of painting the town red, a test. A test my students failed spectacularly time and again. And then Ranma came along, and the young lad... lass... gave me hope that my true heir had arrived.

"Ranma was young yes, but he... had so much potential, yes, he was a martial arts prodigy you'll find just once in every generation. I'd have taught him everything I know had he challenged me to a fight after the events at Mount Phoenix, and it wouldn't have taken much prodding to gaud him into a good brawl after that fiasco so aptly called the 'failed wedding'.

"But then the invitation to New York came and what happened afterwards, and the idiotic 'I-act-before-thinking' fraction had to go and ruin everything, believing the worst of a young martial artist who'd risked his life for others countless times. Ranma didn't deserve that," he spat bitterly, glaring daggers at Soun who tried his best to make himself small. "Alas, I have found a worthy heir in Felicia-chan, and soon we'll have enough evidence to clear poor Ranma's name."

"Hold on, Happosai-san," Tatewaki spoke up and carefully got to his feet, "I do not remember more from that newspaper article other than that Ranma was convicted for fivefold murder as 'Ronin Ranko', but you want to tell me that Tendo-san and even Akane-chan believed the charges even for a second?" he asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

"Hah, my boy, that they did!" replied Happosai bitterly, "You see, your sister had hatched up a truly devious and clever plan, I must admit. She'd managed to retrieve a genetic sample of Ranma's female form, and using this she had a scientist create a perfect clone. This clone, pre-programmed with orders to kill any male hitting on her then committed the slaughter in that McDonald's while Ranma had been tricked and knocked out by henchmen. The clone then fled, likely to die in a corner or something, and the American police found Ranma not far from the crime scene."

Tatewaki considered what Happosai had said for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face, and laying his right index finger to his mouth he said, "So the police likely had video footage of the incident seeing as all stores are under video surveillance, and the clone's clothes were likely put on Ranma before it was sent away to expire. Pretty strong case against him... her... Kami, this is confusing. Yet it was a strong case, verily so, no doubt about that."

"That's what I thought too," Soun muttered wistfully and bowed his head.

"What I do not understand, Soun Tendo," Kuno said, his way of addressing the Tendo patriarch conveying that the man had lost his respect, "is how you could believe Ranma guilty of a crime like that.

"Knowing what I know today, that Ranma and the pigtailed girl are one and the same, has opened my eyes to the fact that he has always done his utmost to help those in need."

"A martial artist's first duty is to protect the weak," recited Genma.

"Exactly, Genma-san. So, what prompted you to think the worst of Ranma, Soun Tendo?" Tatewaki asked, his eyebrows raised inquiringly.

A deep sigh escaped Soun Tendo's lips. "After having seen the video footage I had convinced myself that Ranma had slipped into something akin to the Neko-ken but with conscious control; the actions were too controlled to be the 'normal' Neko-ken, but with everything that'd happened to Ranma, all the magic, poisons and potions he'd been exposed to I just believed that as it made the most sense.

"I mean come on, mirror clones are pretty much par for the course in Nerima, but who would've thought that real clones could be created by technological means?

"And this meant in my eyes that Ranma had become a loose cannon that had to be, if not put down, then imprisoned for the rest of his days. Akane-chan and my other daughters thought my explanation made sense as well, as did Ranma's mother. That's why I was happy when he was placed in that prison for meta-humans as it meant a very dangerous martial artist had been contained.

"How could I have known that it was all part of a sinister plan cooked up by an insane woman?" he finished bitterly and lowered his head.

"Tatewaki-san has given you the answer to that, Tendo," Genma spoke up, his eyes drilling into Soun's, "My son was a honourable man. Yes, he was far from perfect, he was cocky, had an uncanny talent to really put his foot in it and was often too arrogant for his own good, but he also helped everyone who needed it. He did what was right, not what was easy time and again, and had you known him, really known him you'd have known that he couldn't have killed those teens, Neko-ken or not. And now I'll shut up before I say or do things I won't regret later."

"B-But..." Soun stammered, his eyes wide at his (former) friends' not so hidden insinuation.

"Just shut up, Soun," Genma whispered quietly but with steel in his voice.

"Indeed, Genma-san. Those who intend to only waste air should rather stay quiet lest they make fools of themselves," Tatewaki Kuno commented with a derisive scoff and brushed off Soun's glare, "Be it as it is, you have my promise that I'll do anything in my power to help clear your son's name. I owe it to him not just due to the vile acts of my twisted sister, but because I now realise that he was a true martial artist, a fellow warrior. I will do my part to ensure that his soul can rest in peace," he vowed and raised his right hand, balling it into a fist.

"I thank you, Tatewaki-san. I hope our efforts will be enough to convince the authorities," Genma mused seriously, a sigh escaping his lips, "Knowing my luck it won't be easy."

"Then let's see if our luck's any better, Saotome-san," Lieutenant Yamaka spoke up, a small smile on his face. "I suggest we all ride over to the police station, and there we'll see to it that we make a case so strong that the courts won't have a choice but to clear Ranma-san of all charges, posthumously."

Exclamations of agreement echoed through the afternoon air and the group set out.

-.-

The police officers, the medics and Tatewaki Kuno (the latter two having hitched a ride with the policemen) had just driven down the driveway and the martial artist faction was about to start roof-hopping when Felicia palmed her face, making everyone turn to face her. "Gosh, I was just hit by something, guys... this Sasuke character disappeared with Kodachi Kuno, right?" she asked in English, secure in the knowledge that Soun wasn't proficient in the language due to Happosai's briefing and not really caring that the Tendo patriarch visibly felt left out.

"Right," the others echoed in English as well.

"This is the same Kodachi Kuno who's madly in love with Ranma, right?" she carried on, eliciting more sounds of agreement from Genma and Happosai who were asking themselves where Felicia was going with this, "And this is the same Sasuke who knows that Ranma is alive, right?"

"Oh jeez," Genma and Happosai exclaimed in stereo, both having understood what Felicia was getting at, "Sasuke knows Ranma's alive and he's bound to having told Kodachi, so who wants to bet she's en route to New York?" the Grandmaster queried and quietly palmed his face, exclaiming, "D'oh."

Neither Genma nor Felicia felt inclined to chance a wager.

**to be continued**...

Yeah, I'd say the chapter title's appropriate, ain't it? What happened to Kodachi was planned from the start, and even though she seems to have received abilities similar to Poison Ivy's hers are different. How so? Well, you'll find out.

Anyway, tell me whatcha think.

Special thanks to BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services and to ShineX for going to the trouble of reading and reviewing every single chapter. Super special thanks to all of you for over a thousand reviews and for turning this story into a fun ride.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):  
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	17. Double Fun

**Title**: Betrayal's Reward

**Author name**: Trugeta

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 17: Double fun **

**Four weeks ago**

Max Dillon, better known to the general public as Electro, felt like every nerve-ending in his body was on fire as he was subjected to something that felt like a teleport, but this feeling of excruciating pain accompanying the abrupt relocation was preferable to the certain death he'd have suffered otherwise, he mused.

Just when he thought the trip would never end Electro felt his feet slam into the ground again, and his right hand reached up to his chest in reflex. "Pheew," he exclaimed in relief when he found no wound, "I thought I was done for."

"You would have been, Max Dillon," a voice spoke up from his right, "Had I not intervened just in time."

Electro quickly turned his head to the left to regard the speaker, noting that he was in a dimly lit room that seemed to be some kind of conference room. An oval shaped table made of some kind of dark wood stood in the middle of the room with four black leather chairs at each of its length sides, but the speaker was sitting at the head of the table, Electro noted.

The man - at least he supposed his 'saviour' was of the male gender, gauging from his voice - was wearing a dark cloak with a cowl that made it impossible to discern his features, but despite that Max Dillon could easily sense that the person sitting enthroned like a king in the armchair was powerful. Shaking off his trepidation Electro willed a sneer on his face. "And to what do I owe for your 'intervention', o great saviour?" he asked sarcastically.

"Now, don't be so disrespectful to the one who prevented your untimely demise, Max Dillon," the man chuckled, and as if on cue the lighting increased in intensity and the cloaked man pushed back his cowl.

"Doctor Doom!" gasped Electro as he glimpsed on the metal mask that was as famous as the ruler of Latveria himself, "But- But how?"

Doctor Doom placed his forearms on the table and leant forward, and even this simple gesture was so intimidating that Electro almost shivered. "A simple teleportation," he said matter-of-factly. "I observed your rather one-sided battle with the one you called a 'Spider-Man wanabe'." Electro grumbled audibly and cursed under his breath, "Very poor form, Mr Dillon. Commoners might even say he owned you, badly. Anyway, his self-proclaimed moniker is 'Chaos', and I must admit that he is of interest to me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"When this... Chaos was about to kill you I used my considerable abilities and brought you here to my refuge."

"Why?" Electro blurted, asking the first thing that came to him.

Doctor Doom waved his hand. "Take a seat, Mr Dillon," the ruler of Latveria said calmly, "and all shall be explained."

Max Dillon obliged gladly and let himself sink into the comfy armchair. "Good," Doctor Doom exclaimed and steepled his fingers, "As I inferred, everything comes back to 'Chaos'. You have fought him if it can be called that," once again Electro's eyes narrowed in impotent anger, "and seen how dangerous he is. That in and on itself is no reason for concern, and won't be, ever. But the fact that 'Chaos' is the union of a human host and a symbiote similar to Edward Brock's makes him, or rather them very interesting," he explained.

Electro had the distinct feeling that his host was leaving out a lot but nodded anyway. "And you saved me-why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I cannot act myself, seeing as an overt use of my abilities would bring down upon me the Fantastic Four and other so called heroes, which is why I chose to acquire aid," Doctor Doom effused.

"And what's in it for me?" Electro queried, trying to sound casual.

"Aside from your life that I saved, isn't revenge a powerful motivation?" countered Doctor Doom slyly.

"But I-"

"You lost to him, didn't you?" interrupted Doctor Doom and made it clear that it was a rhetorical question, "And do not kid yourself, Mr Dillon, we both know you'd lose again and pay with your life. But I wouldn't be Doctor Doom hadn't I thought of that."

Max Dillon watched as Doctor Doom pushed a button on the right armrest of his chair and said, "Gentlemen, you may come in now."

A hidden door opposite of Doctor Doom opened to reveal two figures, and a slow smile appeared on Electro's face.

"I see you know the Gentlemen, Mr Dillon," Doctor Doom said, a hint of amusement tinting his voice.

"Yeah, you could say that," Electro agreed, not having taken his eyes of the newcomers, "Hey Doc, long time no see," he greeted and added, "Venom."

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'doc'?" Doctor Octopus sighed and rubbed his temples before grabbing a chair and sitting down.

Electro noticed that the mad scientist's tentacles were conspicuously absent and absently perceived Venom's reply to his greeting and that the big man grabbed himself a seat as well. "Too many times ta count, probably," he admitted with a rueful chuckle, "But as my mother liked to say, I'm hard of learning."

"That we can easily believe," snorted Venom and crossed his arms across his massive chest, secure in the knowledge that Electro wouldn't dare backtalk seeing as he knew who was stronger.

Otto Octavius cleared his throat impatiently. "You brought us here, Doctor Doom, ostensibly to take out this 'Chaos'. Am I to assume that he's linked with Scarlet Widow, another being you seem to think of as a symbiote host?" he asked, growling out the name like a foul epitaph.

"They are. We learned they are brother and sister," Venom spoke up, disgust permeating his voice, "They failed to ally themselves with us and must pay the price."

"Good catch-word..." muttered Electro and turned to look at Doctor Doom, "What's in for us, aside from our freedom we'd have regained anyway at some point?"

Heads turned to regard the armoured man, and Doctor Doom smiled behind his mask. He'd expected the question. "Eventually, yes, freedom would've been yours again. But let's not talk about my meagre contribution," he retorted in a way that conveyed he didn't think his contribution meagre at all, "and what's in it for you.

"Otto Octavius, genius scientist and long-time enemy of Spider-Man, let us begin with you. I pulled a few strings, and you should find what has been stored in the second to last room to your right most interesting. Seeing as your target is a symbiote-host I have seen to it that the modifications include devices to launch fire and sonic attacks.

"Venom, let's continue with you. You being a symbiote-host, are you aware that your symbiote lives off the adrenaline produced by your body? And are you further aware that your symbiote's eating habits will eventually lead to the development of cancer, resulting in decay and a slow and excruciating death?" the Latverian asked matter-of-factly.

Eddie Brock was so taken aback that his face-mask faded away, revealing his gob-smacked face. The tall man waited for his symbiote to deny the claims Doctor Doom had made, but the alien remained silent, giving Brock all the answers needed. "Seems I am, now," he muttered ruefully, the fact that he referred to himself in singular not lost on the others, "It seems my other and I have much to... Discuss."

"Be that as it may," Doctor Doom exclaimed, waving his hand airily, "wouldn't you want to be rid of this problem, say, in exchange for you helping me terminate Chaos, or rather the human host?"

Eddie Brock felt compelled to yell "Yes!", but restrained this impulse in favour of saying, "Interesting. You already mentioned you wanted to get your hands on Chaos, likely his sister as well," he paused, and Doctor Doom nodded, "and I don't think it's too farfetched to assume you want our spawns for yourself. Isn't it so?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

Doctor Doom inclined his head, conceding the point. "And if it were so?"

"I have fought Chaos firsthand and know how strong he is. His sister or whoever she is is probably no slouch either. Victory is not guaranteed, even with an advantage in numbers," Eddie admitted grudgingly, "To cut to the chase, I want what you just offered regardless if we manage to capture our spawns or not."

"And why, pray tell, should I agree to that?" Doctor Doom inquired, a brow raised behind his mask.

"You want us to capture the symbiotes, correct?" queried Doctor Octopus, his arms crossed across his chest, and he nodded to himself when Doom inclined his head in the positive, "I assume you intend to study them to see if you can use them for your purposes. With the equipment at your disposal it should be child's play to gather more than enough data."

"Even if we fail, which is unlikely," Eddie Brock picked up where Otto Octavius had left off, making Doom turn his head to regard the symbiote host, "we promise you to preoccupy Chaos so much that you'll get all the data you'll ever need," Venom replied and cracked his knuckles, "We gotta beef with our errant spawn after all."

"I agree," Doctor Octopus spoke up, "We will not fail. I have... matters to discuss with those brats as well."

Doctor Doom pondered their words before turning his head to regard Electro, who'd remained silent. "What say you, Electro?"

"I think they got it right," Electro retorted after a moment of thought, "I want to pay this fuckin' bastich back, and shouldn't we be able to tear him to pieces amongst the three of us? Hell yeah. We'll make him regret he was born."

The Latverian pretended to think for a moment although he had inwardly already come to a decision; fulfilling his end of the bargain amounted to a small expenditure of his powers, nothing truly taxing, and he'd get three devoted soldiers out of it, all in all, a win-win-situation for him.

"I will agree to the terms against my better judgement," Doctor Doom allowed sternly, "Provided you try your hardest to kill the host so that I may obtain the symbiote for thorough studying."

The other three super villains exchanged glances and smirked as one. "Consider it done," Otto Octavius said amongst agreeing nods from Electro and Venom, "Our next course of action after taking you up on your word will be to round up likeminded individuals."

"Whom did you have in mind?" Doom inquired curiously.

"A few old friends who'll assuredly join us were I to mention that we're going up against a friend and ally of Spider-Man, especially if there's the chance that we might kill two birds with one stone," Doctor Octopus replied coldly.

"I have a few... acquaintances who might be interested in joining in as well," Eddie Brock said thoughtfully.

"I have a few ideas myself," added Electro with a cold grin.

"Good," Doctor Doom nodded, "Then let us get down to business."

A few explanations later the three super villains left the room and Doctor Doom behind to follow the instructions they had been given. No one saw nor would they have seen Doom's features blur until they had changed utterly, and the newly revealed Mephisto barred his teeth. "I was denied thousands of souls due to your unforeseen appearance and meddling, Ranma Saotome. Soon you will be dead and reality will unfold as it should have," the king of hell hissed. "And in the end I'll torture your soul for all eternity."

-.-

**Now**

Ranma, referred to in public as Mara Parker, stared off into space as she walked beside her friends Mary Jane Watson-Parker and Peter Parker, a forlorn expression on her face. It hadn't been more than ten minutes since Felicia had left for Nerima yet she was already missing her terribly.

A deep sigh escaped her lips, and she missed the silent conversation between Peter and Mary Jane entirely. Like most couples that had been together for years, the Parkers had become very adept at conversing just with looks and gestures, and while Ranma trudged along the sidewalk, Mary Jane had practically ordered Peter to cheer their friend up.

"So, Mara," Peter began levelly, "why don't we grab us the breakfast we promised you? I know for a fact that there's a Starbucks at 8 Central Terminal Area."

"I see. So that's one of the locations you get your doughnuts from, tiger," Mary Jane interjected mock-chidingly before Ranma could speak up.

"Guilty as charged, milady," Peter retorted with an unrepentant grin, and had to hide a triumphant smirk when he saw the corners of Ranma's mouth quirk up ever so slightly.

"Then we'll have to make sure his trouser size doesn't go up, won't we?" Ranma asked ironically.

"Infamy!" Peter cried theatrically, "I'm surrounded by cruel, heartless wenches who'd begrudge poor ole me of my doughnuts! Infamy, I tell ya!"

"Ya got my sympathies, pal," a passers-by said, the middle-aged brunette Caucasian backpacker looking distinctly sympathetic, "My wife got it in for me as well. Seems to be the same everywhere."

"Yeah, seems so," Peter retorted with an uneasy smile, "But I think I should better move along before I say something that'll get me the couch for a week."

The man chanced a look at Mary Jane and Ranma and seemed to get a clue. He chuckled weakly and nodded. "Good luck, seems like ya'll need it," he said sheepishly and moved along.

Peter nodded and watched the retreating back of the backpacker for a moment before turning his head to look at his wife, a weak smile on his face. "I just booked the couch, didn't I?"

Mary Jane returned Peter's sheepish look with a steely glance of her own and slowly walked up to him. Coming to a stop right in front of him she crossed her arms underneath her breasts, and standing five metres behind them Ranma shuddered, muttering, "He shouldn't have nodded, he should definitely not have nodded."

"You know what your saving grace is, tiger?" Mary Jane purred in Peter's ear.

"Umm, no?" Peter returned intelligently.

"You give the best belly rubs ever. But you better be watching what you say or do, or the couch is a very distinct possibility," Mary Jane said in a low, warning tone that didn't give a clue as to whether she was serious or not.

Peter quickly nodded his head, he didn't want to spend even one night on the uncomfortable couch. "I'll make it up to you, promise."

"Good, tiger," Mary Jane replied huskily and pressed her body against her husbands', "And I assume you'll figure out an appropriate way to make it up to me," she added before stepping back and turning on her heel, walking back to Ranma with swaying hips.

Peter watched his wife sashaying away with a dry mouth, and when his eyes unglued from Mary Jane's magnificent rear he caught Ranma's distinctly amused eyes. Quickly recomposing himself he shrugged, which only served to increase their friends' amusement. **'Even if MJ left me hot and bothered, seeing that we succeeded in distracting Ranma is worth it. Almost,'** he thought and unobtrusively adjusted his pants.

Ranma smiled knowingly and turned to Mary Jane who began to chat with her right away, and from there on out the three friends walked the 0.4 miles to the Starbucks branch store where they enjoyed a quiet breakfast.

-.-

Ranma, Peter and Mary Jane had spent the rest of the day travelling to some of the best sights of New York apart from the tourist spots, and they had naturally taken breaks ever so often so that Mary Jane could rest. At the end of the day they had dropped off an exhausted but happy Mary Jane at the Parker's flat where the redhead had made the suggestion that Peter and Ranma - who had changed to male some time around midday due to feeling like it - should hit a bar and have some fun.

The two had finally relented upon Mary Jane's insistence, and Ranma hadn't regretted it. In fact, he had really enjoyed it, so much so that Peter and he had made a recurring event out of it over the course of the next few days. Seeing that Mary Jane slept away most evenings on the couch anyway due to pregnancy related fatigue Peter didn't have to have a guilty conscience either, and both men rather enjoyed the crime-fighting they were wont to engage in after beefing up. It was the perfect win-win-situation.

Now it had already been a full week since Felicia had left for Nerima, and Ranma had once again agreed to Peter's suggestion to paint the town red, grab some beer and food and generally have fun. They were approaching the Pete's Candy Store at 27 Union Ave, and Ranma felt a smile bloom on his face. Helping himself to refreshments sounded better and better by the second and his mouth was watering in anticipation of the food he'd soon devour.

Ranma saw that Peter was mirroring his expression, but a sudden far-off explosion followed by several more wiped the good mood off their faces. "What the hell!" Peter muttered, his expression grim.

"That didn't sound good, Pete," Ranma agreed, looking in the direction from whence the explosions had originated with a worried expression.

"Hey!" a man yelled, coming running to the gathering crowd from the direction of the bar, "Haven't ya heard? A large group of villains are robbing the banks up at Flatbush Ave! The news said it's the Sinister Six all over again, only that they have larger numbers this time!"

Worried mutterings were exchanged, but two men just shared a look and nodded determinedly. Ducking into an alley both changed into their alter ego attire at record speeds, and in the blink of an eye they were off. Seconds later they were already high above street level and closing in on the source of the disturbances.

"There's a lot of banks at Flatbush Ave," Spider-Man mused, "HSBC, Portabella, Citibank to name a few. That's a lot of cash."

"Yeah. Wonder who joined the ranks, though," Chaos mused as he swung beside his friend, following the course of the road Nostrand Ave described at high speed.

"It's pointless-"

"To speculate, Mr Scientist, I know," Ranma agreed, "And we'll find out soon enough anyway," he mused, taking a right turn into Linden Blvd, Spider-Man mirroring him.

"Yep," Peter agreed as they took a left turn into Bedford Ave shortly followed by taking a right turn into Martense St, "But I gotta say, the training's really paying off. We're already there," he said and pointed ahead.

Ranma nodded and took a right turn, swinging into Flatbush Ave. "You've come far, but there's still ways to go."

"Spoilsport," Peter muttered and followed Ranma's lead, descending on the rooftop of a house to get a clear view of the situation.

"Oh fuck!" Ranma cursed softly, Peter following his friend's gaze to the street below where a dozen police cars were barricading the street; but far from being an organised operation the police's efforts were proving to be in vain as a green-and-yellow clad super-villain whom Ranma had seemingly killed a month ago and another red-haired man his symbiote identified as Vulture were raining chaos down on them.

A similar exclamation escaped him, and the spider-powered man muttered, "Damn, it's Vulture, and Electro, and it seems like ole lightning rod learned a few new tricks."

"So he survived," Ranma mused almost to himself and winced softly as another police car exploded, "And he's learned that cars go boom when he ignites the fuel with his powers. Quite a feat for someone with all the intelligence of a folding shovel.

"But I find it much more worrisome that I don't sense anyone aside from those two. According to the police report there shoulda been a lot more o' 'em."

"The others may be milling about and doing Lord knows what. Criminals are unpredictable like that," Spider-Man replied seriously, "But it ain't like we got the time to try weedin' them out. It'd take too long for our 'colleagues' to arrive, and we just can't risk innocent lives."

"You're right of course," Ranma retorted and winced again as yet another police car exploded forcing the officers on site to take cover, "But I got a bad feeling about this."

Spider-Man shrugged. "That's par for the course, believe me, I get it all the time," he said and glanced sharply at his surroundings, "I take out Vulture and you tackle Electro, and then we work our way through whomever else we may encounter. Good luck!"

"Same to you," Ranma returned before launching himself into Electro's direction.

-.-

Ranma narrowed his eyes and mentally switched to high alert as he swung toward Max Dillon. The super villain melted bullets fired by the police laughing contemptuously and shot lightning bolts at them, causing the officers to duck for cover. As if sensing the new threat Electro turned his head, and when apparent recognition set in the man turned tail and sped away, Ranma in hot pursuit.

Electro had just rounded a corner with Chaos hot on his heels when the vigilante felt a soft buzz go off in the back of his head, prompting him to swing sharply to the left. Razor-sharp webbing had cleaved the air where Ranma's head had been two seconds before, and adhering to the wall of a red brick house he tried to gauge the threat level of his attacker, who turned out to be Spider-Man's Doppelganger.

Before he could do much of anything a yellow-white lance of pure energy streaked at him from the dark alley, forcing Chaos to perform an acrobatic evasive manoeuvre to stay clear of the destructive energy. Several more energy blasts followed interspersed by razor-webbing courtesy of the Doppelganger and lightning attacks fired by Electro, and when Ranma felt an intense heat from above he made the mistake to look up.

This mistake cost him dearly as razor-webbing as well as ordinary webbing fired by Venom who had just crawled out of the shadows managed to trap his feet, and the energy attacks courtesy of the pale-faced woman and Electro hit him squarely in the chest. While it did little in the way of damage it hurt enough and distracted Ranma, and it cost him precious few seconds.

The stream of fire that had suddenly been launched at him at incredible speeds by an unseen attacker hit head on, and Chaos cried out in agony as the continuous lance of fire bore into them at chest level. The Wizard floated down from above, a mean grin adorning his face. "I told you I'd have my revenge, loser," he hissed, his right index finger never letting go of the trigger of the futuristic looking silver rifle attached to a large equally silver backpack, "This is a combination of Sonics and fire that's even more effective than microwave radiation, and my genius intellect conceived it for the sole purpose of destroying you. Soon your precious symbiote will be dead, and honestly, you're nothing without your symbiote," he continued, watching with glee as Sym began to melt away. "If I can't have a symbiote such as yours you won't either," he exclaimed with barred teeth and continued the bombardment with Shriek and Electro gleefully interspersing their own attacks.

Then, suddenly the figure of Chaos faded away, leaving nothing behind. The villains looked at each other and back at the spot where Chaos had seemingly died. "Is he dead?" asked Electro, confusion apparent in his voice.

"Hard to tell," spoke up the scientist amongst them, and the Wizard stroked his goatee, "My attack should have left something behind."

"There's a black spot on the ground," Shriek said, adding her own two cents, "He's gotta be dead."

"I don't sense our spawn either," Venom spoke up, "That means Shriek's right."

"Ooh thank you Venom-honey. You say the nicest things," Shriek crowed.

Venom shuddered imperceptibly and noticed that the others were looking pretty perturbed as well. "Our contractee will be pleased," Electro remarked, a grin playing on his face, "How about we join Doc Ock now. He's waiting at the exit of the alley," he suggested and began to walk towards said exit without waiting for the others.

The other villains looked at each other and shrugged, and soon the dark alley was empty.

-.-

Adhering to the wall at five metres up invisible and undetectable Ranma had watched the super villains with interest. That he had escaped their combined efforts at killing him relatively unharmed had only been by virtue of his incredible skill, having created a decoy symbiote at the last moment and fading out of sight courtesy of the Umi-Sen-Ken. None of the villains had noticed a thing, and Ranma had debated if he should ambush them.

He had decided against it in the end seeing as battling super villains of this calibre would incurr massive amounts of property damage, and with Doc Ock and this insane pale faced woman named Shriek involved, not to mention Doppelganger, the Wizard and Electro he was up against powerful and unscrupulous people who wouldn't care one iota about killing innocents to get him.

Still cloaked by the Umi Ranma was deep in thought, and without consciously noticing it he adopted a classic thinking pose. **'Let's consider the implications of this attack. They were obviously well prepared, knew my weak points and attacked with brutal efficiency. Weren't I as good as I am I'd likely be dead.'**

**'Hmm, this contractee of theirs... Hafta find out who it is that wants me dead. And I gotta find a way to eliminate my weaknesses. That was too close for comfort.'**

— **_Indeed. They _were_ well prepared and preyed on our weak points, just as you said. Continued exposure to the bombardment this... Wizard rained down on us would have meant our end._**

— **_Your quick thinking saved us, and proved once more that you were the perfect choice as a host. Above and beyond that, the Wizard has just moved to the top of my kill painfully list, — _**Sym almost growled.

**'_Our_ to kill slowly and painfully list, Sym,'** Ranma retorted in a tone that matched Sym's to a T, **'And thanks for the compliment. We _are_ a good team. We-'**

Ranma's mental reply was stopped cold by a strange whooshing noise that came out of nowhere, and then the alley was bathed in a red glow. Behind his mask Ranma's eyes got as wide as anatomically possible as he witnessed the formation of a swirling, red glowing... tunnel, for lack of a better word. **'That looks not dissimilar to one of these wormhole thingies I saw on that sci-fi show,'** he thought and got battle-ready, **'Wonder who or what's gonna come-'**

His thoughts were yet again interrupted by a more pronounced whooshing sound, and a person stumbled out of the vortex almost in the same second. The man - Ranma at least assumed that the newcomer was male - was about 1.90 metres tall and clad in dark grey, layered armour from head to toe and looked at his surroundings. A whirring sound permeated the evening air and the helmet disappeared in on itself.

Despite the fact that the ambient lighting in the alley was anything but satisfying Ranma got a good look at the face, and he couldn't help but gasp softly.

"I can't bloody believe it! It worked! Ranma Saotome, you're a freakin' genius!" the man exclaimed and looked at some kind of remote he pulled from somewhere. "I've got about ten minutes to find help before I have to go back. Not much, but it'll have to do."

A small frown made its way on Ranma's face as the shock from seeing an older version of himself faded. **'He didn't detect me when I couldn't stifle my gasp. Is he really an older me?'**

— **_Only one way to find out. Go down there and talk to him, — _**Sym suggested firmly.

Ranma shrugged and heeded his symbiote's words. "Now to find help and fast!" the other Ranma had muttered and made to walk out the alley while Ranma had dropped to the ground.

The ex-Saotome willed Sym to form appropriate clothes and said, "Maybe you've found that help already, stranger."

The other Saotome whirled around in askance. "What? Who are you?"

Ranma smiled mysteriously. "If you have a moment I'll gladly show you."

"I'm somewhat on a tight schedule," the other Ranma replied, sounding like he wasn't at all interested, "So-"

"I guarantee that you'll want to see this," Ranma retorted confidently, a small mischievous grin adorning his face, "After all, you shouldn't doubt yourself."

While the other Ranma was still puzzled by this mysterious reply and about to inquire what Ranma was alluding to the ex-Saotome had already willed Sym to initiate the transition to his Japanese birth form. As usual it hurt like a battering ram to the nuts, but Ranma was so used to pain that he kept himself from crying out and he limited himself to gnashing his teeth so hard that he could have crushed adamantium.

The other Ranma stared in askance as Ranma's features began to shift during the obviously painful process of whatever it was he was doing, and he felt his eyes go wide when the blond young man gradually became a raven-haired young man. A man who bore a striking resemblance to himself in his younger days. The native Ranma stretched to get his joints back into proper alignment and smiled mischievously. "I'm Ranma. Sorry 'bout that."

-.-

Ranma, back in his birth form after quite some time, waited patiently for the older version of himself to gather his bearings. But all the other Ranma seemed capable of at the moment was to sputter incoherently. "You... But... How..."

"You said something about having just ten minutes to find help, for whatever you're needing help for, so I suggest you get your act together, older me," Ranma said seriously with his arms crossed across his chest.

The mention of the time limit seemed to be sufficient incentive, causing the older Ranma to indeed gather his bearings. "Okay, I've just seen the impossibility of a Caucasian teenager turning into a younger version of me, so please forgive any bafflement on my part," he muttered sarcastically and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose before opening his cerulean orbs again, "I can deduce from the available facts that you're my counterpart in this world, but why you are so much younger than me eludes me. Before you ask, and ask you will, I hail from another dimension, one that is parallel to yours.

"In a nutshell, I travelled to a random parallel dimension with an untested device that allows for interdimensional travel to seek help. I know I took a great risk, but we're under attack from a force that I believe hails from another dimension as well. I saw them kill dozens like they were cattle, and they were enjoying it!"

"Let me get this straight... You're an older me from another dimension, one where some things might be similar and others different," Ranma summarised and rubbed his temples, "And you're under attack from extra-dimensional beings that have started killing people at random. That about right so far?"

The older Ranma nodded, his face set in a grimace. "I saw it. I was on my way to Reed's lab - Reed Richards, he's my mentor, colleague and friend - when they appeared. A wormhole very similar to the one I used to escape appeared, and a platoon of biped Lizards clad in futuristic silver armour appeared. They had beam weapons and began to fire at people right away, and I could see the sadistic glee on their scaly faces. Bastards got their jollies from killing innocent people! I activated my experimental armour and tried to fight them, but there were too many.

"I was forced to retreat and escaped into my version of this alley, and then, in a last-ditch effort, used the machine and jumped to this dimension. I will have to return to my home dimension in," he looked at his timer, "three minutes fifty-six, or I'll be stranded here. Che, great choices I got, it's either staying here and knowing that I doomed my world or returning and dying at the hands of these damned dinosaur rejects."

— **_As you will have noticed, this older version of you told the truth. His heartbeat, the lack of extra perspiration and the lack of distinct pheromones do not lie, — _**Sym spoke up.

**'I picked up on it, yeah,'** Ranma sent back, and looking at the older version of himself he said, "There's a third choice," and let Sym form the combat suit sans mask, "I come with you and we kick ass and take names."

"What the..." the older Ranma whispered with wide eyes, but he quickly overcame his surprise and began to study his younger self with interest, "Looks like some kind of body armour that's will activated. Quite advanced too."

"It's much more than that," a smirking Ranma retorted, "But we can get to the explanations later, I'd say it's time to cut a swath through your dinos."

"'Cut a swath'?" the older Ranma muttered to himself, "I'd never have thought I'd see another version of myself that's so... physical."

"'Physical'?" Ranma parroted, a brow cocked as a sinking feeling set in, "Don't tell me you haven't been taught the Art?"

"Of course I've been taught the Art," here Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, "The Art that is science!" his other self added dramatically and with shining eyes.

Ranma face-vaulted, his relief brutally crushed. Palming his face he muttered, "Figures. It's one of those days."

"Pardon me?" the other Ranma queried with a puzzled expression.

"He's got manners. Not raised by pops, then," the native Ranma muttered, and looked up sharply, gazing intently at his older counterpart, "You never got any training in the Martial Arts, didcha?"

"No, why would I? My mother insisted that I follow long-standing tradition and become a scientist," the older Ranma replied, a miniscule shudder travelling through his body, "A scientist among scientists, at that. You wouldn't believe the lengths she went to to ensure her ends were met."

A dark expression marred Ranma's face. "I would. But that's a story for another day," he grumbled, and then whipped out a mobile phone, "Gotta make a call now, wait a sec," he said and dialled, only to curse a few moments later, "Just the answering machine," he grumbled, but he left a message anyway as the other Ranma would have to leave soon which made a new attempt at contacting his friends impossible.

Turning back to his older self he stored the phone and grinned, cracking his knuckles. "I believe your time here's up, so we gonna kick scaly ass, or what?"

A brief frown marred the other Ranma's face as he tried to decipher the first statement before his expression lit up. "I can hardly imagine someone I'd rather kick 'scaly ass' with than you," he retorted with a roguish grin the younger Ranma knew too well. He took a look at the device in his right hand, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go!"

The older Ranma pressed a button with the end of the countdown, and the same-self red, swirling rift in the space-time-continuum appeared.

"I honestly can't wait to compare notes," the other Ranma said seriously, and then his expression became dead serious, "We gotta jump now, or the wormhole will lose coherence!"

"Right!" Ranma replied, "Now don't freak out, I'm going full combat mode!"

In an instant the native Ranma was clad in Sym's base form replete with horrendous face mask and tendrils and sharp spikes all over his body, and his left hand had become a wicked looking two-bladed axe while his right had formed a razor-sharp katana. He took one last look around, said a mental good bye and jumped in. The last thing he saw was his distinctly surprised older counterpart mirroring his actions before he was shot off on his very first interdimensional travel.

-.-

Were Ranma to describe his first interdimensional travel he would have likened it to a slide. With his martial arts background he could certainly appreciate the feeling of almost aerial twists when the tunnel they were travelling through took a turn, but all too soon the trip came to an end.

They were spat out of the vortex one after the other at their destination, and while Ranma made the transition from high speed travel to almost no forward motion look easy his older counterpart visibly stumbled. Heaving a soft sigh at the mounting evidence that the other Ranma would be next to useless in hand-to-hand combat he scanned his surroundings, noting that the alley they had appeared in looked much the same as the one in his home dimension.

No one was nearby, and Ranma turned to his older counterpart. "Hey, you're white as a sheet. Is everything okay?"

"I just remembered that I haven't yet uploaded the program that allows me to store dimensional coordinates into the timer," the native Ranma admitted sheepishly.

Ranma gasped when the full implications hit him, and his tendrils flared wildly around him. He advanced on the other Ranma, stopped right in front of him and lifted him up by the front of his armour. "Do ya wanna tell me that I'm stranded here without a way back?" he hissed and barely resisted the urge to shake his older self.

Ranma Two was sweating bullets, but with a visible effort he forced himself to answer. "For the time being, yes," he admitted, but hurried to add, "But only for as long as it takes to correlate your quantum signature to a specific dimension, your home dimension. Reed and I have built a nifty device that scans and stores quantum signatures of nearby parallel dimensions, and your home dimension is without a doubt nearby from a planular point of view.

"Just as good an opportunity to test it," he added in a whisper.

Ranma palmed his face and shook his head. "D'oh," he grumbled and massaged his temples, "Most of what you just said went straight over my head," he growled, "But let me condense the facts: I'm stranded here for as long as it takes your machine to find my home dimension, right?"

"Umm, yes," the older Ranma agreed, "It'll take a while too because the scan is very low key. Our device opens a micro vortex that'll hardly be noticed, and scanning and storing the quantum signature takes a picosecond at best. But with the postulated nigh infinite number of parallel dimensions it will take a while. Sorry 'bout that."

Ranma chuckled in spite of himself when he heard these last three words, words he himself had uttered often enough in his life. He softly shook his head and set his other self down. "It seems to be the same for you as it is for me, if we screw up we do it right," he sighed, then he trained serious eyes on his other self, "But I know from myself that I'd do about anything to fix the problems I caused, and I expect the same of you."

His older double gulped audibly, then he nodded vigorously. "S- Sure," he stuttered, and added in a whisper, "Damn, didn't know I can be so scary."

Ranma allowed a smirk to cross his features, but his head turned sharply when he sensed something out of the ordinary. Shortly thereafter angry hissing noises that sounded a lot like the hissing of a snake permeated the air, and from the sound of it they were getting closer. **'At least eight, gauging from the ki signatures. Definitely not human. Ki's got a slightly stronger feel to it, and is reptile like,'** he analysed and started when he heard rifle-fire and screams that abruptly ended.

His expression firmed into a mask of concentration Ranma ran out of the ally just in time to see a troop of non-humans firing sickly yellow coloured energy beams at anything that moved, and he was just in time to see an energy beam hit a toddler. The little girl - recognisable as one due to the mostly pink clothes and the feel of her ki - hadn't even had time to scream, a look of surprise edged into her face, smoke rising from a hole the size of a tennisball in her chest as she toppled over backwards.

The dimensionally misplaced martial artist felt something inside of him break as he heard the thud the little girls' body made as it hit the floor, and the feeling of helpless fury turned into white-hot anger when he heard hissing noises from the attackers that could only be laughter. Ranma quickly channelled his anger into something more constructive, a cold rage that would bring about just penance for the innocent lives that had been taken.

His counterpart had told the truth. The apparent invaders were killing people - innocent bystanders not different from the civilians in his dimension, as far as he could tell - at random, and gauging from the expressions on their faces for fun. **'Those... Those monsters! Killing people seems to be nothing but a sport for them, like a man would go about hunting animals or something! If anyone ever deserved death it's them!'** he thought angrily.

**_— I could not agree more. The evidence that your counterpart told the truth is compelling as evidenced by what we just witnessed. The invaders are sliders, and they are a race that evidently enjoys and revels in killing beings that I would assume they would call 'lesser' than they are. The looks of horror on the faces of their victims give them pleasure as evidenced by what can only be called gleeful hisses. To call these... creatures barbaric would be an insult to the words' very definition. And just imagine the damage they could do to our world what with them being sliders before they could be stopped. Ranma, these creatures must be put down wherever we encounter them. Hard and fast. —_** Sym downright demanded.

Ranma's face darkened and he sent back a mental affirmative before analysing his enemies in the blink of an eye. The bulk of the attackers was made up by biped Lizards with mostly orange-brown scales just as Ranma Two had described, right down to the claws, tails, armour and strange looking weapons that looked like futuristic rifles. The tallest lizard whose skin colour was of a forest green under his black body armour hissed something, and the other seven brandished their weapons at him, their intent obvious.

The symbiote host had already turned into a black and red blur, and faster than anyone could blink seven nigh simultaneous thuds echoed through the alley. The leader of the Lizards had time to blink in surprise as his platoon dropped like decapitated flies, green blood seeping from their headless corpses, but Ranma's face remained impassive as he reappeared in front of him.

His course of action decided Ranma's left hand shot out and grabbed the Lizard's throat, hoisting him into the air. Acting on a flash of inspiration Ranma thought, **'Sym, you told me once that your race has a language of their own. Would it be hard for you to control my vocal cords so that I could speak your language?'**

— **_Considering that we are bonded, not at all. But it would feel strange for you, —_** Sym replied, and added, **_— What are you up to now? —_**

**'Wait and see and just do it now,'** Ranma replied.

Ranma felt Sym give the mental equivalent of a nod and was then subject to a feeling he'd have likened to swallowing a steaming hot branding iron. Thankfully the sensation didn't last more than a second and Sym commented, **_— It is done. That fool of a dinosaur tried to kick your shins in, by the way. I took the liberty to form spikes and impaled his feet, hence the pitiful hissing. —_**

Ranma lowered his head and gazed at his shins, and true to Sym's word two long spikes protruded from his shins. Each had impaled a booted foot from toe to heel, and Ranma hissed, **"Tre'tach Kor'krag, Ort'Eaach!"** which translated to "Wrong move, asshole!"

The lizard hissed and grunted as Ranma's grip tightened minimally but refrained from saying anything. Ranma tsked and willed his right hand to form razor-sharp claws which he held in front of his captives' face. **"Tre sach'da ret'rech'de tzur gu qasd'etzu fe'rf, zugh'at. Rart nast blae, ceda hute'ras."** (I know delicious ways to induce pain, lowlife. You will sing, rest assured!)"

A look of surprise flashed over the Lizard man's face at hearing the alien words, but again, Ranma paid it no heed. Willing Sym to form a cage of three by three metres around him and their prisoner Ranma began his work in earnest.

-.-

Fifty metres away the native Ranma wondered which circumstances in life had forced his counterpart to become as he had. Not that he minded the deaths of a platoon of the invaders, far from it, but the brutal efficiency with which his other self had killed them spoke volumes about the fact that he would do anything to eliminate the threat the invaders posed.

A small smile made its way on the older Ranma's face behind his armoured face-mask. "Maybe he's really all the help we need," he muttered and flinched a bit at the noises coming from within the cage. "That sure isn't for the faint of heart," he whispered and resigned himself to waiting.

Seven minutes forty-six seconds later the cage was dropped, revealing just one figure standing. The other, unsurprisingly the former leader of the platoon, was lying at his other self's feet in a pool of green blood, apparently dead. His older double stood there with his mouth agape in a very good imitation of a fish, then a big grin erupted on his face and he whooped with joy, pumping his right fist. "You were right! You're really all the help we need!"

Ranma grinned and allowed himself to bask in the praise, walking leisurely to where his older self was standing when suddenly his greatly inferior spider sense - at least compared to Spider-Man's own - flared, but by then it was too late. The symbiote-clad teen managed to evade the worst of it by violently twisting his body to the left, but the energy beam cleaved a hole of about two centimetres in diameter right through his right shoulder blade nonetheless and punched all the way through to the other side.

As soon as the pain hit Ranma cursed his own carelessness and stupidity for not even having bothered to check if there were other dinos in the area. To add insult to injury, he had made another beginner's mistake, he'd let himself get distracted by a non-combatant. Granted, he'd forgotten that his other self had had no training at all which explained away his mistakes somewhat, but he should never have let it happen in the first place.

Ranma heard his double cry out in alarm and resisted the urge to yell in pain only by virtue of Sym dulling his pain receptors. The symbiote then heightened the release of adrenaline into his host's system, and Ranma whirled around, weaving a complex aerial evasive pattern that let him stay clear of the tifle fire and brought him closer to yet another platoon of invaders. As before their number totalled eight, and this time Ranma didn't resist Sym's usual attempts to appeal to his base instincts and let go.

Not ten seconds later eight dead invaders were lying on the pock-marked street, each invariably killed in a brutal fashion. Ranma then righted himself up and hissed as the pain caught up to him, but due to Sym's efforts and his own ridiculously high pain tolerance he managed to shove it into the back of his mind. Quickly swivelling his head Ranma ascertained that no more invaders were close by, and both his eyes as well as his other senses told him that the coast was clear.

Motioning for his alternate self to come Ranma remained on high alert while taking stock of his body. **'Sym, something's... off about this wound. Your thoughts?'**

— **_Your analysis is correct. The tissue surrounding the wound is almost... irradiated, for lack of a better term. It is fortunate that you were able to take evasive action at all, or we would likely be dead._**

— **_Nonetheless, you need medical attention as soon as possible. This is beyond my ability to heal, — _**Sym replied gravely.

**'Swell. This day keeps getting better and better,'** Ranma retorted bitterly. **'But as they say, there's no use in complaining when you got a job to do. And my job ain't done until the last of those fucking dinos is dead.'**

— **_I agree. What we learned was... Disturbing, — _**Sym agreed. **_— But it was fortunate that Zzzz'Hhhss had a translator. Pity that it ceased working. —_**

**'I don't care about that fucking translator, useful as it would've been. All that destruction, killing and stuff just so that they can advance their space programme? And what for? To conquer more planets? These Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh make me sick!'** Ranma thought viciously.

"Hey Ranma!" his other self exclaimed, and as soon as he had reached his younger double's position he winced, "Damn, there's a fucking hole in your chest! I mean a 'I can see right through' fucking kinda hole! You gotta get medical attention and fast!"

"Yeah," Ranma agreed and punctuated it with a nod, "Whatever the dinos hit me with did a number on me. It isn't healing as it should. In fact, it ain't healing at all."

"Damn," the other Ranma swore and looked grave, then determined, "Then we have to go to Reed's lab and get Sue to have a look at you, she's the greatest medical doctor there is. The lab is at-"

"Sue's a doc in this dimension? Weird," Ranma mused, "As for the lab, let me take a guess... Baxter Building?" he supplied.

"So some things are the same while others are not... Not unexpected, but intriguing," the native Ranma muttered to himself.

"Nope, not really the same, but I didn't think the Baxter Building had been destroyed in this dimension what with the lack of super-powered conflicts," Ranma corrected and elaborated, "An enemy of my versions of Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben sent the Baxter building to outer space with them inside. They survived, the building did not."

His double sweatdropped. "Oookay. Anyway, I'm certain the invaders will find Reed's lab... interesting, so we'll have to get there fast. Can you still fight?" his older double asked.

"Yes," Ranma replied in a hiss, "Getting there by web is out, so running it is. I know what I'm about to suggest is strange, but bear with me here."

Seeing that he had his other's undivided attention Ranma continued. "I live in co-existence with a symbiote, an alien life form. Its physical representation is the 'body armour' you see," he explained, and ignoring the incredulous expression of the other Ranma he pressed on, "I cannot carry you 'cause of the injury, so I'll use my symbiote to glue you to my back. This way I can turn us invisible as well. Any questions?"

"Tons," the older Ranma admitted with a wry grin, "But they'll have to wait as time is a most important factor. What do I do now?"

"Just get onto my back, you know, like a piggyback ride," Ranma explained, and he winced from the pain emanating from his wound when his other self complied.

"Just good that you aren't a female version of me. Now that'd be awkward," the older Ranma muttered.

**'If only you knew,'** Ranma thought dryly, "Now hold onto your boxers, that's gonna feel real strange."

With that Ranma willed Sym to cover his older self from head to toe, and not wasting a second he activated the Umi as well as Sym's own camouflaging abilities. Then they were off.

-.-

The trip through the largely intact city was conducted in silence, which was not surprising as silence was an essential part of stealth. Ranma found that Zzzz'Hhhss, the commander of the first 'dino' platoon he had eliminated, had told the truth. There weren't many Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh invaders present as of yet, just a few platoons here and there that were harassing and killing the indigenous people while they pillaged and looted.

Ranma gnashed his teeth. He had killed two more platoons on their way to the rapidly approaching Baxter Building, but he had reached his limit soon afterwards as neither his nor Sym's efforts had managed to dull the pain any longer. **'I'll kill 'em bastards later. All of 'em,'** he thought darkly.

— **_I am not surprised to find that the human race is not the only one to use others as stepping stones to reach their goals, — _**Sym spoke up.

**'Elaborate, Sym,'** Ranma requested, keeping his tone purposefully neutral.

— **_Looking back at the history of your species, including recent events, we find a lot of instances where the deaths of many a human was accepted to gain control of resources, —_** Sym explained, **_— I will not try to rationalise or sanction the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh's actions, far from it. They are a danger to us and must die, but their motivation is likely the same as found in humans. They just have better weapons to attain their goals and are a lot more vicious and cruel in their modus operandi. —_**

A very thoughtful Ranma snapped out of his deliberations when the Baxter Building came into view, and he mentally swore. **'My older self was right. The dinos are very interested in Reed's lab. The lower levels are crawling with the scaly bastards!'**

Compressing his lips into a tight line Ranma debated making a decision that had the potential to further aggravate his wound, but alternatives were scarce. Before he had the chance to second guess himself a red vortex appeared two hundred metres away from the Baxter Building, spitting out another platoon of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, and the decision was made for him.

Gritting his teeth to brace himself for the pain that was sure to come Ranma adhered to the building's surface and started to crawl upward. When the pain hit Ranma like a sledgehammer to the nuts he thought sarcastically, **'Some days it just doesn't pay to roll out of bed.'**

-.-

The uppermost story where - according to the native Ranma - a passageway that led into the building was hidden presented the Ranma from Earth-616 with a problem. He couldn't find hide nor hair of the said secret entrance, nor did he find the flimsiest bit of evidence that it existed. Giving up on this fruitless endeavour Ranma checked his surroundings for hostiles. Finding none he made the decision to walk the primrose path and 'unsealed' his other self from his back.

"Wheew, you weren't kidding when you said it'd feel strange," the native Ranma gasped and took a deep breath, then a smile crept on his face when he recognised his surroundings, "Ah, having trouble finding the entrance. It's hidden by state-of-the-art holographic technology and other protections that'd take too long to list."

Ranma just nodded in acceptance, and taking a deep breath the older Ranma spoke to the evening air, "Authorisation Saotome, Echelon Theta Wild Horse thirty-two aicileF Sigma Omicron ten dash forty-two. Thanks for all the fish."

Even though Ranma didn't blink the simple metal door seemed to appear out of thin air, and his other self grasped his hand and pulled him forward. A hiss escaped Ranma as he was pulled through the door that'd opened with a swish upon their approach. "Computer, reactivate defensive and offensive protocols."

"Affirmative, Dr Saotome," a soft female alto replied and the door sealed shut just as a shimmering blue force-field appeared.

"Dr Saotome, eh?" Ranma asked and kept his tone neutral as he had no idea what to think of that bit of information.

"Yeah, I have several academic grades in Physics, string theory among them, but thanks to Reed I'm also a generalist," Ranma's double explained causing Ranma to humm, "Umm, sorry about pulling you in like that, but I couldn't risk the invaders picking up on us," Ranma Two added apologetically.

"Understood. No harm done, not much at least, I think," Ranma retorted and willed Sym to form his street clothes consisting of blue jeans, a black sweater and black boots, "Lead the way to the lab, that's likely where they're holed up."

The other Ranma shook himself out of the momentary stupor the casual alteration from combat suit to street wear had induced. "Of course. Follow me!"

The 'visiting' Ranma easily followed the - to him - leisure pace his counterpart set, and he was led on a merry run through a virtual maze of corridors. Their progress was frequently interrupted by the need to deactivate and reactivate safety measures that'd come alive when Red Alert had been initiated, but they finally reached a massive double door made of polished steel.

A blue shimmering force field surrounded said door, but Ranma Two ignored it. "Computer, authorisation Saotome, Echelon Theta Wild Horse thirty-two aicileF Sigma Omicron ten dash forty-two. Thanks for all the fish."

"Access denied. Dual lock-out mode active," the computer replied in a friendly tone.

The native Ranma gnashed his teeth and punched the intercom with his right thumb. "Reed, if you don't open up the damned door right now I'm gonna tell everyone what you and Sue were up to on your second honeymoon on Hawaii!" Ranma Two hollered, his hands planted on his hips.

Silence reigned for a few seconds on the other end of the line. "Ranma?" a tentative voice that the visiting Ranma identified as Reed Richards' spoke up.

"No, Santa Clause. Now open up the damned door!" the older Ranma groused.

"One moment," came from the other end of the line, and a few heartbeats later a bright white light encompassed both Ranma's.

"How come there's two of 'em?" another voice, this one belonging to Ben Grimm, queried.

"As I said, I'm Santa Clause, and I come bearing presents," Ranma Two retorted exasperatedly, "Now let us in, I don't fancy facing the dinos again."

"Now who faced them again?" Ranma queried with a raised brow.

His double shrugged weakly and silence reigned for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, then the door opened with a hissing noise. "Access granted," the smooth computer voice exclaimed.

Both Ranma's hurried in, the double door closing behind them.

-.-

Despite knowing virtually nothing about the interior of the Baxter Building the non-native Ranma quickly navigated his way to where he could feel the highest concentration of ki, which turned out to be the living room. It was a large room of at least fifty square metres in total with a large window bank ahead, and Ranma noticed an ultra-modern entertainment system that looked completely futuristic as well as a flatscreen TV of at least over a metre in diameter that was affixed to the rightmost wall. It goes without saying that Ranma was impressed.

Older versions of 'his' Fantastic Four were sitting on a dark blue two piece sofa and an equally coloured three piece sofa with Reed and Susan sitting on the three piece sofa facing the door while Ben and Johnny were sitting on the sofa adjacent to the leftmost wall. There were two armchairs of the same colour - likely for guests - placed around a rectangular table that looked like it was made from oak, and a stylish sideboard placed to the two piece sofa's left. All eyes were on the two Ranma's, and the looks of stress and worry slowly faded from this dimension's Reed, Susan, Ben and Johnny's faces.

The older Ranma waved a greeting, and a small smile flashed over his otherwise serious face. "Hey guys, good to see you all alive and well," he exclaimed, "As said, I come bearing presents," he added with a boyish grin.

This world's counterparts of Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny returned the greeting, but all eyes were instantly on the Ranma from Earth-616. "So your slide was an evident success," Reed mused and a look of hope appeared on his face, "How did it feel to cross the Einstein-Rosen bridge?"

The native Ranma couldn't help but grin. "Great! I-"

"Reed, Ranma," Susan interrupted gently in a chiding tone, "We have a guest. You can talk science later."

A sheepish look appeared on both men's faces. "Of course, Sue," Reed said and gave their guest an apologetic look, "Sorry about that. I am Reed Richards, this is my wife Sue, my brother-in-law Johnny Storm and last but not least my best friend Benjamin Grimm. You already know our Ranma Saotome."

A small smile had appeared on Ranma's face as Reed had introduced his nearest and dearest. "Nice to meet you all," he said with a bow, "I am friends with your counterparts from my dimension, so please forgive any familiarity I might show.

"Sorry to get serious, but what's the situation?"

"We have twenty-four intruders in the building," Reed said gravely, "Our defensive measures are barely slowing them down, and they'll reach our position in less than an hour. Per my most optimistic estimation, that is."

"Don't you have some killer laser that can get rid of 'em?" asked Ben Grimm, frustration obvious on his face, "Preferably one you can give me. I wanna grind them dinos into paste!"

"Ben, you know as well as I do that I scrapped all weapons projects long ago," Reed replied levelly.

"Askin's never hurt," Ben said with a shrug.

Ranma chuckled internally. **'Nice to see that this Ben has the same fighting spirit as ours,' **he thought and winced when a jolt of pain emanated from his wound.

"Shit! I've forgotten all about your wound!" the older Ranma exclaimed and shook his head, "Sue, he's been wounded when he took out two Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh platoons."

"Zzzz what?" Johnny interjected with a look of confusion.

"Sounds like the noise Reed's and Ranma's devices make before they go boom," Ben muttered with a shrug.

"Hah hah," Reed and the native Ranma retorted in unison.

"Did you get hit by one of their beam weapons?" Susan asked in professional concern.

"Yeah," Ranma replied with a nod and bit his lip as another jolt of pain raced through his body, "But we ain't got the time to deal with my injury now. I gotta kill a few dinos first before they overrun our position. I saw them kill people at random, young, old, men, women. One dino even shot a baby in the face at point blank in front of its parents and laughed himself silly! He has since met his maker after a very painful death, but these monsters gotta be stopped!

"Older me," he said and turned towards his double, "You fill them in on everything including this."

Sym formed the combat suit in an instant. Ranma had chosen the same configuration as when he had come to this Earth, and his appearance drew gasps. "What the hell?" muttered Ben Grimm in morbid fascination.

"Intriguing. Looks like some kind of will activated full body armour with inbuilt weaponry," Reed observed. "The psychological factor shouldn't be underestimated either."

"Close, but no cigar. Computer, Authorisation Saotome, Echelon Theta Wild Horse thirty-two aicileF Sigma Omicron ten dash forty-two. Thanks for all the fish, and deactivate forcefield. Reactivate everything as soon as I'm out of the door," Ranma said, eliciting more surprised looks and exclamations, fact that made him tsk, "I paid attention and we," he nodded his head at his counterpart, "seem to have very similar speech patterns, so what? Later!"

As soon as the doors parted Ranma was out like a shot, leaving a bewildered quartet behind. Said quartet unsurprisingly turned to the only alleged source of explanation available, and the native Ranma felt himself begin to sweat under the boring stares of his friends.

-.-

Exactly two hours twenty-three minutes later a thump echoed throughout the hallway that housed the entrance to the labs of one Reed Richards. A rippling effect passed through the air, and a hunched over figure that was doubled over in apparent pain was revealed. Hissing the newly revealed ex Saotome whispered, "Computer, Authorisation Saotome, Echelon... Theta Wild Horse... thirty-two aicileF Sigma... Omicron ten dash... forty-two. Thanks for... all the fish."

This time the double doors slid open without the need for a secondary authentication and Ranma sighed in relief as soon as the doors closed behind him. He barely managed to drop all the weapons he had liberated from the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh before collapsing to the ground in a boneless heap once he was fully inside. He let Sym form the street wear from before and distantly recognised rapidly approaching footsteps of at least four individuals and then felt himself being lifted into the air.

"He really did it," he heard Reed say in a voice that sounded surprised, "There's not one Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh left alive in the surrounding area. And damn, those weapons he brought will make for intriguing research."

"You can say that again, Reed," Ranma heard the enthusiastic voice of his double say and would have chuckled hadn't it hurt so much.

"How come Reed can say it so easily and us lowly commoners get all tongue tied?" Ben Grimm mumbled, causing Ranma to smile despite the pain he was in.

"Only speak for yourself, brick for brains," Johnny spoke up in a teasing tone.

"C'mere. I'll show you what this brick for brains will do to your face, Johnny handsome!" Ben retorted angrily.

"Children! This is not the time for you bickering. Either carry Ranma's double into the living room or stand aside and shut up!" Susan Richards commanded.

"Aye, ma'am," and "Yessis," were the meek replies on Ben's and Johnny's parts, and Ranma smiled, muttering, "Good to see... that some things... are the same."

"Don't tell me it's the same in your dimension," Susan almost pleaded.

"They're...worse," Ranma whispered with a silent laugh after he'd been laid on the comfortable three piece sofa by Ben.

"That's possible?" Susan asked in genuine surprise, then she schooled her features into a professional mask. "Ranma, I am aware that your double has informed you that I'm a medical doctor. I will now take your vitals and conduct in depth scans. Don't worry, thanks to a joint ingenious invention courtesy of Reed and our Ranma it is absolutely painless."

"While good to... know it doesn't... really matter. I'm told... I have a... stupidly high... tolerance for... pain," Ranma retorted with grit teeth.

"I can see that," Susan muttered laconically and whipped out a silvery scanning device that was hardly bigger than a pack of cigarettes. Blinking her eyes once Susan pushed a button and the scan began. Worry lines quickly appeared on Susan's normally unlined forehead, and her expression darkened more and more the more time passed.

"How is he, Sue?" the native Ranma asked worriedly.

"Not good. The strain eliminating the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh placed on his system has worsened his injury and infection has begun to set in, hence why he's running a high fever. The radiation poisoning is spreading and getting worse as consequence thereof," Susan said gravelly as she looked up from her scanner, "His symbiote is fighting it, but to little effect. Whatever kind of beam weapon the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh used, it causes irradiation, and the worst kind I've ever seen. The weapons used by them are the cruellest and most barbaric I've yet had the displeasure of seeing, for even an indirect hit will cause a quick but agonising death through radiation.

"I can't do anything for him, this goes way beyond my ability to treat," she said in a mixture of anger and helplessness, but she instinctively kept herself from giving the other Ranma a look of pity as she somehow knew he would hate it, "I'm sorry, Ranma. I wish there was more I could do."

"Thank you... for trying... anyway, and for being... sincere with... me," Ranma whispered and gave Susan a weak smile.

"You're welcome," Susan said softly and turned her head to wipe away a tear from the corner of her right eye.

"There's still one option open to us, and we have to put him into the reg tank as soon as possible to stop the infection from spreading while we-"

"Reed, you can't be thinking about using _it_," Ranma's double hissed. "It's untested, and we don't even know if it works!"

"He's deteriorating, and you know as well as I that he'll be at death's door sooner than later," Reed retorted calmly, but that he pinched the bridge of his nose and let forth and explosive sigh conveyed that this was greatly affecting him as well, "I hate to say it, but he mustn't die. He's our only hope."

— **_They are right. There is nothing they or I can do as my own inherent healing factor is not strong enough to repair the damage. You _will _die, — _**Sym said gravelly.

**'So this is it, huh? I either chose to undergo an untested procedure that has a good chance of killing me or I do nothing and will die for sure. Well fuck,'** Ranma thought angrily.

— **_I know that you hate that you cannot fight this, I do as well. But I can only implore you to chose the first option as it offers us a chance. A chance to live, and a chance to get our revenge on those who wrecked your life. You do not want the Tendos and your mother to get off with whatever Happosai and your mate are doing to them, do you?_** — Sym asked in a tone that was almost angry.

**'Hell no!'** Ranma thought back, a white-hot lance of anger burning inside of him, **'As creative as the old lech and 'licia are, _they_ would get off far too lightly. I want to ruin their lives until they feel the same despair I felt when I realised that no one would help me-'**

"Ranma?" a worried female voice asked.

Ranma chuckled weakly at the symbiote's bluntness. "Sorry, I... spaced out... for a bit. Sym told me... much the... same. That there's... nothing he... can do for... me and... so on... and so... forth. It's not... surprising... that you... have a... lot running... on my... survival as... I seem... to be the... only one... who can... fight the... fucking dinos," he said without boasting, "But that... you need... me to... survive ain't... what's gonna... make me... gonna go along... with whatever... you're... planning on... using on... me. I got a... lady I love... more than... my life... waiting for... me at... home, and... I won't... be doing... that to... her. Leaving... her ain't... an... option. Nuh uh. So... do whatever... it is... you're talking... about. Ain't... got nothing... to lose."

"Before you agree so blithely to what could very well be your certain death you should at least know what this is all about," the older Ranma spoke up with a sigh, "Reed, Sue and I have been working on a serum that'll enable the human body to regenerate from any wound, disease or infection, even severed limbs or anything short of outright decapitation, or as in your case, radiation induced irradiation. We researched far and wide, studied animals and anything you can imagine, and we believe that we've made _the_ breakthrough.

"The formula is ready, but we haven't even reached the stage of animal experimentation yet. We have no idea how it will affect the human body, none at all. Knowing all of this, do you still want to go through with it?"

— **_I am confident that I will be able to supervise the genetic changes that I am certain will be made by the serum, and I will make changes where needed, —_** Sym spoke up, **_— See it this way, there is nothing I can do for you as things are, but by agreeing to go through with this procedure we will ensure that we will never be caught off guard again. —_**

**'Please elaborate,'** Ranma thought back.

— **_Gladly. Had you possessed the ability of super-human regeneration on top of your Neko-ken granted abilities you could have taken the Sinister Eight head on without my aid. Our enemies would be dead or at least neutralised in this case._**

— **_Once you possess super-human regeneration of your own you will not be dependent on my protecting you any longer. Is that not what you always wanted, deep down, since we bonded? To be able to rely on your own body and skills when the going gets tough, just like in old times? This can and will give you your wish. —_**

Ranma mulled this over for a few heartbeats, and not a few of the fights he had been involved in in Nerima flashed before his mind's eye. It had always felt great to come out on top because of the skills and abilities he possessed. Supremely satisfying even. If he could have that feeling back on top of Sym's abilities... Nodding to himself he came to a decision. **'I haven't seen it from this point of view, but what you say makes sense. 'kay, we'll make it so. I mustn't die, there's still so much to be done.'**

— **_Good decision, my host, —_** Sym returned satisfied.

Back in the external world Ranma smiled knowingly. "If you're... anything... like me... you know... the answer... already," Ranma said softly with a trace of humour.

Ranma Two searched the eyes of his younger self and shook his head in mock-dismay, a small smile playing on his face. "Reed," he turned to his fellow scientist, "get the serum out of cold storage. He's determined to go through with it, and you know how much use arguing with me is when I've set my mind on something."

Ranma could see Reed nod through the haze in front of his eyes and heard him mutter, "Arguing with a brick wall is more yielding and less frustrating by far," which elicited soft laughter.

"Aren't we diplomatic today?" Ranma's double bit back sarcastically.

"I haven't heard you deny it, which leads to the logical conclusion that it must be true," Reed retorted with an amused expression, and a smile briefly appeared on his face when Ranma Two muttered something unintelligible, only to give way to a serious expression, "We should place him in the reg tank as soon as possible to maximise his chances," the genius scientist then said.

"I'll carry him to the lab," Ben offered, and a few seconds later Ranma felt himself being picked up again.

-.-

Ranma came to when he felt himself being softly shaken at the shoulder, and blinking several times he tried to get an idea of his surroundings through his blurry vision.

He was in a large room held in bright colours, the machinery and various equipment housed in said room literally screaming lab. Reed and Susan were standing behind a control console of some kind with Johnny and Ben standing around looking a little lost. His double was standing in front of him, and his expression was concerned. "Damn, it... wasn't a... dream," he sighed and a groan escaped his dry lips.

"Afraid not, younger me," his older double replied softly, "The poisoning's spreading, and we have already placed you in the tank and are ready to start the procedure. Just-"

"Just... what?" Ranma asked weakly.

"You have to take off your clothes as you will be immersed in fluid from head to toe," Susan explained gently. "We weren't able to, and our Ranma assumes your clothes are symbiote generated."

"Your Ranma... is right," Ranma said, and asked, "All... clothes?"

"Yes," Reed answered, "It would also be best if your symbiote were to retreat as far into your body as possible. We have a lot of unknowns going on already, so-"

"Understood. You... don't need... more unknowns," Ranma agreed, and with a look of brief concentration all articles of clothing disappeared; he briefly winced at the sensation of Sym retreating to... somewhere in his body.

All present winced at the sight of the gaping hole that had been punched through the upper right part of his torso and the blackness spreading from it. Ranma was in no condition to take objection to the staring, but a thought popped up in his head. "How cold's... the water... inside the... tank?"

"Twenty-seven degrees Celsius, why?" Reed asked. "It's the optimum temperature to stimulate regeneration. And it is most certainly not water, but a culmination of years of research and-"

"Too cold," Ranma had muttered and sighed, "Don't freak... out over... whatcha gonna... see now. Cold... water or... my desiring... so change... me to... female. Don't... believe it? Watch," he said, and just as he gave the mental push that transformed him into her a lance of pain shot through his, now her body. "Damn, won't... be doing that... again any... time soon... if... I can... help it," she muttered, teeth still clenched tightly.

Surprised gasps and exclamations of disbelief echoed throughout the lab until Johnny whispered, "Wow, D-cup breasts on top of being a natural redhead. And look at those curves and the translucent skin! Hoh boy, she's gorgeous! Well, the hole over her right breast's not so, but nobody's perfect, I guess."

Ranma's double had whispered, "Damn, I make for one damn hot woman!" at the same time in an awed tone, to which Ben had agreed with a "Hell yeah!"

Reed whereas had stroked his chin, consulted some of his diagnostic devices and had muttered, "A complete gender change, down to the genetic level. Incredible."

"Johnny Storm, must you always be so shallow?" Susan Storm demanded in outrage in answer to her brother's comments. "And avert your eyes, damn it!"

"If he's... anything like... the Johnny... from my... dimension... it's nothing... he hasn't... seen before... lots of... times," Ranma's soft alto voice whispered, undercurrents of pain clearly audible.

"Just great. My brother's a womaniser in at least one other dimension. Where did I go wrong in all of this?" Susan lamented and ignored her brother's grin with difficulty. "It's official, my brother's a womanising gigolo."

"Hey, no fair!" Johnny exclaimed indignantly. "It's not my fault she's a sight for sore eyes!"

Susan palmed her face and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'sterility shot, definitely!'. Johnny just crossed his arms across his chest and ignored his sister.

"Aaanyway," Ranma's double spoke up, "I'll now place the rebreather on your face and then we'll flood the tank. Once optimum conditions are reached we'll begin the procedure. Don't fool yourself, it'll probably hurt worse than anything before in your life."

"Ain't like... I got... a choice... if I wanna... live," Ranma retorted grimly and closed her mouth instinctively as her double placed the rebreather on her face.

"No, not really," Reed agreed and made some last minute checks before pronouncing that everything was ready.

"Just one... last thing," Ranma rasped, "I interrogated... a dino leader... and found... out quite... a bit. They're your... stereotypical... evil empire... with everything... that... entails. Apocalyptic... bombs, plans... for interplanetary... warfare, the... works. They just... recently... mastered... sliding, and... they plan... to use... it on... a big... scale.

"The dinos... won't stop... with this... Earth, and... who knows, maybe... they'll... become... unstoppable... if they... harvest enough... of those... Tetratium crystals. Should I... not make... it I... want you... guys to... find ways... to eliminate... them. For the... sake of... all of us."

Reed and Ranma Two exchanged a serious look. "We will dust off some old ideas regardless," the older scientist said gravely with Dr Saotome nodding solemnly.

"Hope for the best but expect the worst, and always be mindful of Murphy's law," the native Ranma mused sagely.

"Amen to that," Susan said gravely.

"Yeah. Murphy's... an asshole... and unfailingly... reliable," Ranma wheezed, "Older me, if I... don't make... it you... gotta promise... me that... ya will... inform one... Felicia Hardy... of my... homeworld of... my demise. She's my... girlfriend."

The native Ranma's eyes widened a bit, then he nodded once at his younger gender-inverted counterpart and whispered a solemn affirmation. An air of finality dominated the lab as Dr Saotome closed the door which then sealed shut seamlessly, and with a serious expression he pushed a button on the upper right side of the tank. "I'll now flood the tank. Good luck, Ranma. See ya on the flipside."

Ranma weakly gave a thumbs up, and a blue liquid had begun to fill the tank from the bottom up as soon as the older Ranma had pressed the button, and she just had time to smile weakly before her body was totally engulfed by the fluid. Her eyes closed automatically, and she subjected herself to the floating sensation, thoughts losing all cohesion as she felt herself drift off into a deep slumber.

Standing outside the tank five friends exchanged looks. "He... She... Whatever's something else," the native Ranma muttered softly, "I can't help but wonder if something similar might have happened to me had Mom allowed Pops to train me in the Martial Arts."

"Knowing the idiotic tendencies of your father I'd say it's very likely, Ranma," Susan mused and turned her head back to the woman floating gently in the regeneration tank, "She really is something else, and I can't wait to find out what happened to this Ranma to make her this way."

"Women and their incessant need for chattering," Johnny muttered with a shake of his head.

"I'll ignore this blatantly false and unfounded statement," Susan said with great dignity and turned to her husband, "Is she ready for the procedure?"

Reed checked his instruments for a moment and nodded. "The reg tank has slowed down the spread of the radiation poisoning, as per my original assumption. She has fallen into a deep slumber and her vitals are stable for the moment. Yes, she's ready.

"Ranma, I think it'd only be appropriate if you'd do the honours," he said softly, his gaze and expression serious and solemn.

Ranma nodded solemnly. "I'm honoured. Let us pray that she'll survive and that this will work out," he breathed and rubbed his eyes.

Johnny was tempted to say, 'What, no faith in your own tech?' but chose not to for fear of jinxing it. He watched like the others as their Ranma gave the floating younger female version of himself a last look and walked over to join them. Reed moved to the right and gave him space, and training his eyes on the 28 '' TFT Ranma almost absently pressed the button that would initiate the procedure.

A long device mounted on a stereotypical grey coloured automated arm was slowly lowered into the tank from above, and when the contraption that resembled a thirty centimetre steel finger had reached Ranma's left shoulder the injector unloaded its payload into the patient's system.

The native Ranma carefully monitored the readings the various machines gave him, from pulse rate to brain wave patterns to a complete continuous cat scan, but for more than a minute nothing happened. "It isn't working," the older Ranma muttered to himself in resignation.

"We-" Ranma interrupted himself and stared at the readings, and an acoustic warning followed immediately thereafter. "Fuck! Heart beat and pulse rate are off the charts!" he exclaimed and looked at the tank where Ranma was wildly trashing, eyes wide open but unseeing, agony edged into her features.

"We'll lose her at this rate!" Reed exclaimed and studied the readings intently, "But if we get her out of the tank now she's as good as dead. Sue?"

"You're right, Reed. There's nothing we can do but to ride it out and hope for the best," Susan agreed, her forehead creased in worry.

Johnny and Ben congregated around the monitor as well but didn't take their eyes of the tank. Even though this was not the Ranma they knew and liked, this younger gender-changing double was close enough to their friend to elicit the same feelings, and both men prayed to God that he'd look out for this Ranma Saotome that had come to their dimension to help.

It seemed their prayers were for naught, and it was 11:56 p.m. on Feb 1st, 2010 when Ranma's heart stopped beating.

-.-

Five sets of eyes stared disbelievingly at the regeneration tank where not a minute before their only hope at fighting off the invasion from another dimension had literally died. To make matters worse, he, no, she had been the double of their own Ranma Saotome, and thus someone they'd taken an instant liking to. The body of their gender-inverted guest from another dimension floated leisurely in the tank, looking for all intents and purposes like the young woman within was just taking a nap.

"Reed?" Susan Richards nee Storm asked fearfully and looked up from her medical scanner, "Do you get anything?"

Her husband stared intently at the monitor and tried everything his impressive intellect came up with but had to eventually shake his head in dismay. "Nothing, Sue. No brain activity, no heart beat, nothing. The procedure has run its course, but it killed Ranma's double in the process. Reviving her is out, or the tank would have already initiated automatic protocols. There just is nothing there to revive.

"Damn, I hate days like these!" he spat with a passion and began muttering something about Antimatter bombs and dinos.

"What have I done?" the native Ranma asked to no one in particular, his voice full of despair. "It's all my fault! I brought her into this dimension, an outsider not involved in all of this, and it got her killed! _I_ got her killed!"

"It ain't your fault, stupid! She chose to come on her own. She saw the weaps the dinos are toting, she knew the risk and she helped in spite of it," Ben spoke up with conviction, "If it's anyone's fault it's the fucking dinos'!

"Besides, is that your way of honouring her death? By blaming yourself, huh? That's not the Ranma I know!"

"He's right, egghead, and the way I see it you got two choices," Johnny agreed in a hard tone, making a rattled native Ranma swivel his head to look at Susan's brother, "Question is, what's it gonna be? Bury your head in the sand, wallow in your misery and play into the dinos' hands and let her sacrifice be in vain, or find a way to kick their scaly asses?

"Personally I think your double had it right by fighting till the end, and she showed us that the ugly fuckers can be fought and killed. She even dropped a lot of their weapons on our doorstep! But seeing as your other self had more balls than you even as a woman I already know your answer," he finished condescendingly.

Ranma's bowed head came up, a dangerous fire burning in his eyes. "I dare you to say that again."

"Gladly. You're a pussy," Johnny retorted with his hands crossed across his chest, the condescending expression never leaving his face.

Ranma made to advance on Johnny even though a part of him - that was blatantly ignored - told him that Johnny was goading him, but Reed's voice stopped him cold. "Infighting is neither constructive nor tolerated, nor is it something we can afford in this situation. Channel your energies in finding ways to fight the invaders, understood?"

Both men nodded, but the twinkle in Johnny's eyes conveyed that he found he had accomplished his self-set mission. That his sister shot him a grateful and impressed smile was the icing on the cake, so to speak. "Now that ya geniuses are ready to get cracking get at it!" Ben demanded.

Johnny walked over to the tank still holding the floating nude form of their Ranma's younger and gender-inverted double. "Shame that someone so young and beautiful had to bite the dust. Say, how long she's been dead, Reed?"

"Twelve minutes forty-three," Reed replied after consulting his wrist watch, "Why?"

"I don't know much about biology aside from the necessities, but shouldn't wounds stop closing when someone's dead?" Johnny asked in a wondering tone.

"What?" four voices, three male, one female, exclaimed in stereo.

"Yeah, her wound's closing up, and extremely quickly to boot!" Johnny added and made a motion with his right hand for the others to join him.

Reed, Susan, Ranma Two and Ben hurried over to the tank, and Ranma Two and Reed gasped and exchanged a look before looking at Susan. "Do you all see what I see?" Ranma Two asked in wonder.

Susan rubbed her eyes and blink-blinked. "If you're referring to the phenomenon that her wound is closing rapidly - just as Johnny said - then I'd say yes. The damage done by the spread of the radiation poisoning is visibly receding as well. Reed, what have we overlooked?"

Reed moved his right hand in front of his face and cupped his chin in thought. "I have a theory or two, but let us check the readings first. For as you can hear from the acoustic signals, we have a heart beat."

"Kami above!" Ranma Two exclaimed in astonishment, "You're right! And it sounds pretty steady to me too."

"Hooray!" Susan cheered with a big grin, "Thank God for small miracles, but especially for the big ones!"

"Right you are, Sue," Ranma Two grinned, "And this is a really big one! This is so great, I can't fucking believe it!"

Ben chuckled. "We'll turn him into a decent, upstanding and properly swearing New Yorker yet," he said fondly, and Johnny grinned in agreement, "But ya got it right, this is great."

Reed nodded in agreement as well and a smile popped up on his face as the terseness left him, and then he walked over to the console, the others following him with blossoming hope. Susan, Reed and Ranma, the scientists amongst the quintet, immediately went to studying the readings of a few minutes ago, and after about a minute incredulous looks were exchanged. "One heartbeat in five minutes? That should be impossible!" Ranma Two exclaimed in incredulity, frown lines marring his forehead.

"Everything I know about human physiology prompts me to say the same, but then again, no human, at least from our dimension, was ever so highly trained that their body was an incredible machine capable of unbelievable feats nor were they bonded to an alien symbiote," Susan remarked thoughtfully, "This allows for a lot of leeway."

"Astute conclusions, my dear wife," Reed agreed with a nod.

"So we're talking a lot of unknowns here, and we won't get answers until she wakes up from her low grade coma," Ranma Two summarised in a dissatisfied tone, "Damn, I'd almost give my left arm to find out what happened..."

**to be continued**...

I admit to having had a serious bout of writer's block (or rather it's big bro commonly known as writer's brick wall) regarding this one seeing as I was undecided on how to proceed with the storyline, hence the long delay. Then H1N1 came along, and somehow the fever-induced delirium brought with it a crazy idea that smashed writer's brick wall to pieces. My muse has returned! Yaahhoo. Ranma's little 'side trip' is so gonna bring the story forward, finally. :)

Special thanks to BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services. The guy's still recovering from a grave health issue and offered his services despite that, so let's hear it for Wes! This one's out to ya, me pal.

Super special thanks to all of you for your continued support. This story wouldn't be what it is without yas.

Now to some notes that'll hopefully clear up a few questions:

- the side story: it'll probably annoy you guys but it's absolutely needed to get the plot going. Things are gonna come to a head after Ranma's trip to Ranma Two's world, and the side story is the catalyst

- Sliding: the concept's obviously taken from the show 'Sliders', one of my all time favs (which reminds me, the usual disclaimer applies, me own nothing. Meh.). I'd toyed with the thought of how to get Ranma into contact with doubles from alternate dimensions ever since Sean brought up this topic at my yahoo group. Not the most original solution, but I like it. Besides, the concept of parallel worlds is well established in Marvel canon with the 'Marvel Earth' being known as Earth-616

- the healing factor: the main reason I gave Ranma this upgrade is due to the fact that I needed some way to counter the adverse effects Sym leeching off of his/her adrenaline has, namely the development of cancer (and that is canon). It's a very good complementation to Ranma's abilities in my opinion, and almost as extensive as Wolverine's own healing factor. I think it's not extensive to bestow it on Ranma, and it's often depicted in canon and fanon that Ranma heals unnaturally fast anyway, then there's the fact that http: / en. wikipedia. org / wiki / Carnage_(comics) lists the symbiote as having a healing factor anyway.

And considering how many Ranma characters have incredible healing factors (Herb, Saffron, e.g.) and not to mention Marvel characters (Wolverine, Daken (Wolverine's son), Sabretooth, Romulus to mention a few) I don't feel bad about it. Even and especially the Hulk has one heck of a healing factor. He's not invulnerable per se, just incredibly resilient to damage and has a massive healing factor. His future incarnation Maestro managed to recover from being at ground zero of a **Gamma bomb** after the Hulk (who had travelled to the future) bombed him. Ranma's healing factor's chicken shit against that

- the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh: a parallel evolution of dinosaurs becoming the dominant species on their version of Earth. Ruled by their instincts, evil to the core, convinced of their own superiority and their right to rule, unteachable

- the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh beam weapons: they cause death through radiation (if the initial hit doesn't kill the target anyway). The poisoning is so severe that even Sym wasn't able to do anything

- the language of the symbiotes: it's something I made up, obviously. Any resemblance to any other language is purely coincidental

I think I covered the most important issues. If something else stands out feel free to comment on it.

- changes made in V.2: I expanded on the scene where Ramma encounters the invading Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh for the first time. The scene should make more sense and explain why he felt compelled to kill them rather than use disabling force.

Decided to address the name issue. Ranma will only be referred to 'Randall' or 'Mara' when in public, otherwise it's plain old Ranma.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):  
**

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	18. Striking back

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 18: Striking back**

_Ranma felt herself gently floating in the soothing fluid of the reg tank, and she could already feel the regenerative properties of said fluid taking hold. While they did little to actually remedy the damage they halted the deterioration for the moment, and that was just as envisioned. Sym had retreated as far into her body as possible and was lying dormant. _

_The stress put on her system finally affected her, and she felt herself drift off to sleep. This state of blissful oblivion was suddenly and painfully interrupted some time after a foreign device had injected something into her system, and a soundless scream erupted from Ranma's lips as a lance of agony tore through her body and continued to flow through her system like burning hot molten lava._

_'_**_So... much... pain!' _**_were her incoherent thoughts, '_**_Can't... Bear.. It...'_**

— _**The changes to your DNA are too massive and are happening too fast to properly integrate. Do not worry, I will take care of it. Rest now, my host, — **Sym said fondly, and then Ranma really knew no more._

_In the following minutes Sym was hard at work, probably harder than ever before, as she monitored the genetic changes wrought by the procedure, tweaking and correcting where needed. More often than not and more frequently than Sym would have liked Ranma came close to the point of no return that'd have meant certain death, but in the end host and symbiote pulled through. By the skin of their teeth, but they pulled through._

_Sym allowed herself a rare genuine smile when she felt that everything had integrated properly, and the mental smile grew when she noticed that the poisoning caused by the energy beam was being rapidly flushed out of her hosts' system. The shoulder wound was healing at an incredible rate as well, and not five minutes later all her host needed was a few hours of good sleep._

— _**We have done it again, —** Sym thought satisfied, _**_— We have defied all odds, cheated death, and we have gained a new ability that will all but ensure our continued survival even in face of the worst kind of adversity. Things could not have gone better, and now I can even scrap my plan to copy Wolverine's mutant ability of super-human regeneration so as to counter the adverse effects my leeching off her adrenaline has on her system. Life is good. —_**

_With these thoughts Sym felt herself drift off to a deep and well deserved slumber as well, dreaming of all the options now open to them._

-.-

_Feb 2nd, 2010, 8:03 a.m., Earth-526, Baxter Building, New York, USA_

Ranma slowly opened her eyes and quickly closed them again when she saw nothing but blue. The first thing she noticed was the total absence of pain. **'Damn,'** she thought and yawned hugely, arching her back in that way only females seemed to be capable of pulling off, **'I feel... good! Better than ever, even.'**

— _**As you should, Ranma, —**_ Sym spoke up, _**— You pulled through, in no small part thanks to me, and the procedure worked out better than we could have hoped for. —**_

**'You... You mean-'**

— _**Yes. You can now regenerate from just about anything, **_**and**_** it is an ability that will be passed on to your offspring, — **_Sym explained not just a bit smugly, _**— All in all the perfect upgrade to your physiology considering how prone to physical damage you are. —**_

**'Oi! I'll have you know-'** Ranma began, but stopped herself short in favour of smiling sheepishly when she realised the veracity of the statement, **'Point, Sym. And thanks, again. I'd be dead without you.'**

— _**You are welcome. You are my host, the perfect host, in fact, and someone I consider a friend, Ranma. It seldom happens that one of my species enters a true symbiosis as we are usually parasitic rather than symbiotic, but our relationship is one of those rare exceptions, — **_Sym said softly, _**— Oh, and if you tell anyone I said this I will categorically deny it. —**_

Ranma felt touched by Sym's words and let her feelings convey this, then she gave the mental equivalent of a wide grin. **'Of course, your mighty and cold-hearted symbiotessness.'**

— _**Obnoxious brat, — **_Sym muttered, then she gave the mental equivalent of a vicious grin, _**— I just thought I should let you know that you gave Johnny Storm a free show when you stretched like that. It would seem he is in need of a napkin as he is haemorrhaging from the nose, —**_ the symbiote said smugly and paused to add, _**— Heavily. —**_

Ranma resisted the urge to slap her forehead. **'Why is it that I can never catch a break?'** she sighed, **'Sue was right, her brother's a pervert. Nice guy, but a perv. Sym, form panties and bra. I'm not some piece of meat to be ogled.'**

— _**Felicia would undoubtedly say otherwise, —**_ Sym retorted amusedly but complied nonetheless.

**'You got that right. But 'licia would also slap my bum before having her wicked way with me, and I'd love every second of it. She is the woman I love, she's entitled to seeing me naked, all of me, and to do all the things to me that're probably going through his head,'** Ranma retorted, **'Johnny is not, nor any other man, ever.'**

— _**I know. Word of advice, you should get your hands on something more permanent than the undies created by me. What your body went through has jumpstarted your cycle, — **_Sym said casually.

**'Oh goody. And here I thought I had another week yet. Feh. But maybe it's for the best, now I can show 'em dinos some righteous female fury,' **Ranma thought and began to cackle evilly in her mind.

— _**I will never understand how hormones can have such a massive effect on the human psyche. But as it makes you hormonally imbalanced and thus prone to exhibiting violent tendencies I will not complain, —**_ Sym mused with what amounted to a mental shrug.

'**Sym,'** Ranma retorted while mentally tapping her foot in outrage, **'Shut up while you can!'**

Sym just gave a mental shrug that conveyed the symbiote couldn't care less. _**— You should open your eyes now, the whole entourage is here. And gauging from the looks on their faces they can hardly wait to pepper you with questions. —**_

**'Oh joy. Story-telling time for aunt Ranma. Bah,'** the redhead scoffed, but opened her eyes nonetheless when she felt the fluid drain away.

As soon as the fluid had receded to chest level she opened her mouth and grinned. "Hi folks. Didcha miss me?"

-.-

Two hours later Ranma was sitting in the living room, freshly showered, fully clothed – in blue jeans and a black sweater – and a mug filled to the brim with steaming coffee held in her right hand. Reed and Sue had – luckily – already run every test imaginable and then some and had proclaimed that everything had worked out even better than expected.

Ranma's favourite part of the tests had been when she had cut herself open with symbiote-formed blades and the wounds – even deep gashes – had healed over in seconds. Being who she was, Ranma had thrown caution to the wind and had cut off her left pinkie finger before anyone had been able to stop her. It had taken thirty-one seconds for the finger to regrow, and the grin had almost split her face. Reed, Sue and Ranma Two had admonished her that it had been unwise to take such a risk, but even they had been unable to argue with the results.

Results, she had stressed, the occurrence of which had only been possible in her case due to being a symbiote host. Any other person would have died in horrible agony, which meant in consequence that Sue, Reed and the native Ranma had their work cut out for them in improving the process until it was safe once the invasion was over.

Ranma had also explained how her magical affliction had come about in much more detail than before, and the alternate versions of the Fantastic Four and her double had been astounded but very accepting and respectful which had shown in their behaviour and questions, much like her true friends in her dimension.

She had told them all she had found out about the dinos after the tests had come to an end as well. Needless to say, her new friends had reacted as alarmed as she, and they had quickly come to the agreement that the situation had to be investigated and solutions found as quickly as possible as the fate of this and countless other parallel Earths was at stake.

Ranma had also learned a lot about the history of this alternate Earth in the last two hours. Super powers had never developed in this dimension, and mutations rarely occurred and never resulted in mutant abilities. What had also really astounded her was that it was Feb 2nd, 2010 as opposed to May, 26th 1995! Her double was thirty-four!

No wonder he had been surprised at how young she – back then he – had been in comparison. That bade the theoretical question which dimension it was in which time passed faster, and Reed and her double had begun an animated discussion. Theories were postulated and discarded, and Ranma wondered, not for the first time, if she could have turned into such an egghead as the other Ranma given the 'right' circumstances.

Some of the things they talked about – read, almost all things – went straight over her head. Professor Dr Saotome indeed. Ben and Johnny had long since done the smart thing and had excused themselves, and Ranma found it was time to follow their example before her headache grew to even bigger proportions. And she had legitimate reason to boot.

"Do you have a moment, Sue?" Ranma asked quietly.

Susan nodded, and both women walked out into the corridor. "What is it, Ranma?"

Ranma scratched the back of her neck. "This whole mess with the procedure has jumpstarted my cycle, and I need to borrow some panties and hygiene products from you," she said evenly.

"Not a problem, Ranma. If you'd follow me to my quarters," Susan said and waved her hand for Ranma to follow, which she did, "Reed and I have already found out that you're a hundred percent female when female, but it is still surprising how complete the change is," the blonde said as she led the way.

"Don't tell me," Ranma said a bit exasperatedly, "I had no idea what was going on when I started, and I was neither in the best of places nor the best frame of mind either. But all it did was to strengthen my conviction that I will survive anything. I do not lose, not for long anyway, and I'll overcome whatever life throws at me and come out the stronger for it," she concluded with conviction.

Susan shot Ranma a look that the redhead thought was pride filled before she motioned for Ranma to follow her into a room to their right. "Your tone of voice tells me that you lived through a lot," she said as she walked to a drawer.

"You could say that, yeah," Ranma agreed and stopped in the doorframe so as not to intrude.

Susan had meanwhile retrieved several sets of underwear for Ranma and turned around. "If you ever need someone to talk to I'll gladly listen," she said in a serious yet empathic way, "And I promise not to tell a soul. So, now for the other stuff."

Ranma kept her facial expression neutral and just inclined her head. "Thanks for offering. I'll consider it."

"That's all I ask, Ranma," Susan said and handed the redhead the items she had retrieved from the bathroom, "If you want you can get changed in the bathroom. It's all yours."

"Thanks, Susan," Ranma replied gratefully, "Be back in a jiffy."

-.-

A few minutes later Ranma joined Susan in the hallway where the other woman had been waiting. The redhead felt way better now that she was properly attired and had some coffee in her system, and it showed as a small smile was playing on her face.

"I see your mood's improving," Susan commented with a smile in her voice.

"Bah, I've cheated death and gained a brand spanking new ability that'll make my life a lot easier. My monthly visitor has nothing on that, and besides, we all bear it," Ranma replied, eliciting a sage nod from her fellow female, "But that doesn't mean that I won't take it out on the dinos. It's open season, and they're fair game."

"There's hardly a better way to channel your hormones," Susan agreed with a chuckle, "So you plan to go looking for them, eh?"

Ranma nodded and let Sym form the full gear. "Yeah, I'll go out now. There's some payback to be had. I'll use the secret exit to get out. Please tell the others that I'll back soon. I'll aim for something around midnight."

"Okay. Take care of yourself and give them hell," Susan replied.

If at all possible the symbiote generated maw gained an even more wicked appearance. "Will do, on both accounts."

Smiling to herself behind her face-mask Ranma jumped up and adhered to the ceiling, and waving once she crawled away at high speed.

**'Damn, it feels good to be in top form,'** Ranma thought to herself, the grin still plastered to her face.

— _**Better than top form, in fact, — **_Sym spoke up, _**— Your body has never worked so efficiently. —**_

Ranma uttered the command code that opened the secret door that led to the roof almost absently. **'Meaning?'**

— _**That has yet to be determined, —**_ Sym replied.

**'In other words, you got no idea,'** Ranma retorted with an amused chuckle.

— _**I do not even have enough data to speculate how the changes to your system will accentuate themselves. And you know as well as I do that I do not speculate, —**_ Sym retorted a bit petulantly.

**'Understood. But there ain't no need to be so snappy, I'm the one having her monthlies here,'** Ranma retorted shortly before giving the command to reseal the door behind her.

— _**You must be rubbing off on me, —**_ Sym grunted, and added, _**— Now enough with the chit chat, there is hunting to be done. —**_

**'Yes, your bloodthirstyness,'** Ranma agreed and swung into the night.

-.-

It was well past midnight, 2:03 a.m. to be exact, when Ranma returned to the Baxter Building. The hunt had been very yielding, and Ranma had eliminated fourteen Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh platoons all over New York City. She hadn't been inclined to show them her full hand on the off-chance that the incursions were monitored and had hacked her way through each platoon so quickly that they hadn't had a snowball's chance in hell to even lay a claw on her.

— _**Next time try to leave at least one alive, Ranma. It would be a most promising strategy to expand on the ruse you had going when we interrogated Zzzz'Hhhss, —**_ Sym spoke up as Ranma crawled along the ceiling of the hallway that led to the living room.

**'What, that this planet is mine? That I'm but one of many and that we'll hunt them down if they don't desist? Sorry, but I don't think it'll work,'** Ranma thought back and dropped soundlessly to the ground from whence she unceremoniously plopped onto the couch, her combat suit already reshaping itself into a navy blue hoodie sweater and navy blue jogging pants. Black jogging shoes rounded off the outfit, and Ranma sighed in satisfaction.

Sym's reply was pre-empted by someone clearing their throat. "Hey Sue," Ranma greeted nonchalantly before the other woman could say anything, "I knew that you were sitting in that armchair ages ago."

"Oh pooh, you're no fun," Susan muttered and turned the lights on. A reminiscing expression appeared on her face, "I used to scare the living daylights out of Franklin and Valerie many a time when they returned after curfew."

"The things parents get their kicks out of, I'll never understand," Ranma muttered inaudibly, "You sound so relaxed about your kids. How come?"

"They checked in while you were out looking for Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh. Both are exceedingly clever, often too clever for their own good which was a great boon in this case, for they managed to evade the invaders. They're bunking in their old rooms, and I can't tell you how glad I am that they're safe, sound, and accounted for," Susan said in a tone that clearly conveyed the relief she was feeling, "We also got word that our Ranma's parents and his siblings managed to get to safety. Don't ask me how, but his mother seems to have a lot of contacts," she added with a wry smile, "Most of our friends are accounted for as well, and I thank God for it."

"Glad to hear that, Sue. I gotta say, you seem to be just as good a mother as the Sue from my dimension," Ranma said and tried to keep her tone neutral.

"Thanks. I don't see as much of my kids nowadays, but I like to think I am the best mother I can be. Franklin is twenty-two and Valerie twenty, and both have moved out to make their own way in the world. Or as Reed would say, to leave their mark. And they've already begun as both already have several doctoral degrees even with as young as they are. Val even teaches Advanced Physics at Empire State Uni once a week, and Frank's working on something that's way above my head.

"But I still try to take part in their lives even though we don't see each other that often, and I'll always be there for them," Susan said with conviction, and turned worried eyes on Ranma, "I don't know what it is about you that pulls on my motherly strings, and I know I'm about to step into a minefield, but what is it about your mother that makes you so angry?" she asked in a genuinely curious tone.

Ranma hesitated for several long moments. "For the love of... I don't even know why I wanna tell ya this shit, but maybe you're right. Talking 'bout it to someone else than 'licia might help, even be therapeutic as 'my' Reed said.

"Okay, here goes. My mother, if I can even call her that, she... She betrayed me. She threw me to the lions instead of fighting for me, believing in me. It... hurt so much that I can honestly say I hate her," Ranma hissed in a pained tone, and mentally commanded, **'Sym change me back. No point in staying in this form.'**

"It sounds... bad, even without knowing the details. But there's hardly anything you can do about your face aside from drastic measures," Susan mused, "Besides, it's a pretty face that suits you."

Ranma hadn't heard the last part as she was already gritting her teeth from the pain that was rolling over her in waves. "I'll show you drastic measures alright, Sue."

"What the-" Susan uttered, completely baffled by the fact that Ranma's physical configuration was rapidly changing.

The transformation complete Ranma turned glittering blue eyes on Susan. "You see, I can do something about the face- Susan? Susan?"

Looking down at the crumpled form of Susan Richards, Ranma couldn't help but groan. "I bloody hate Mondays."

-.-

Susan had awoken from her dead faint shortly thereafter, and the older woman had peppered Ranma with questions. Ranma had born them in good will as the genuine curiosity and want to understand and help had been clearly conveyed by Susan's behaviour. They had spent several hours talking about everything and anything over one mug of coffee after the other, and Ranma could honestly say that she had poured her heart out. And it had felt good. Damn Reed for being right anyway!

Susan had been shocked at Nodoka's behaviour. Shocked and appalled, Ranma mused, lying in the comfortably hard bed of the guest room she had been given with her hands folded behind her neck. It felt good to know that Felicia, Peter, MJ and 'her' Fantastic Four were no exceptions but seemingly the rule in judging her ex-mother's actions and behaviour – not just in court – as appalling. Susan had also expressed her disbelief that Ranma's almost family, especially Kasumi, had believed her capable of committing the atrocities her mind-controlled clone had committed.

Ranma had to delve deep into the soul of ice to not go off on a rant, instead she said, _"But they did. Those that ought to have known me best, those that were supposed to become my family and would have been my family had my former rivals and suitors not blown up the wedding knew me not at all. I thought _**_they_**_ would have known that I'd never have ripped those boys apart, thought that they'd stand by me and help me, but they propagated throwing me into hell the loudest. _

_"It's something I can and will never forget or forgive, and if they think that what Happosai and my hon did to them, whatever it is, was the extent of payback they'll find they're sorely mistaken. I'll work my ass off to get into a position where I can deal maximum damage to them. I'll take their home, their careers, their money, their happiness, everything. I'll destroy them and revel in the knowledge that revenge is mine when all is said and done."_

_Susan sat in silence for almost a minute before saying, "Normally I'd try to talk you out of it as revenge inevitably leads to more tragedy. It's wont to turn into a vicious circle you cannot escape from, and before you know it you've turned into an avenger who lives for nothing but revenge, but those people... I do not understand why they would believe you capable of slaughtering innocent civilians with all the good you did in your stay with them. They should have known your character, known that you wouldn't ever kill innocents. I haven't known you for long, but even I can tell that you'd have died first. _

_"Bloody hell you were forced to kill an immensely powerful being, this phoenix you mentioned, for this Akane, and despite that she didn't know your heart? That's more than a little disappointing."_

_Ranma snorted, the effort it took to control her emotions plain on her face. "That's putting it very mildly. They were my precious people, those I'd have done anything for to protect, even killing and dying. That they betrayed me like that... That they believed the worst of me and wished the worst on me... I hate them," she hissed angrily._

_Susan's expression was full of empathy. "Understandable, dear. Had I been in your shoes I wouldn't have felt any different. And excuse me for sounding corny, but it's plain as daylight that you live by the metarule you mentioned, 'protect the weak'. That Akane, her sisters and your mother were blind to that and cut ties in such a fashion, that they wished upon you misery and even death makes them deserving of payback. Give them hell!" _

Ranma had felt strangely vindicated by Susan's words, and between telling the older woman bits of her 'old life' she had also told Susan the reason why she preferred 'wearing' her Caucasian forms nowadays, the main reason being that she couldn't return to being Ranma before she hadn't proven her innocence. Not to her mother whose opinion she couldn't care about less, but to the world, or at least Japan and the USA.

_"As long as I'd be hunted like an animal while 'wearing' my original body, provided the authorities knew I was alive in the first place, as long as I'm constantly reminded of what I lost, the betrayals, what I lived through in jail and all the shit that happened to me I can't return to being Ranma," Ranma said in an almost sad tone, only for her eyes to gleam with determination a few moments later, "But prove my innocence I will and then I'll laugh in their faces, come there hell or high water! And when I have closure I will be Ranma Saotome again, but until then, I'm sure, I'll end a lot of people, Miles Warren and Kodachi Kuno among them."_

Susan had just smiled in a way that communicated her faith in Ranma, then she had asked the justified question why Ranma even considered returning to being Ranma at all with the bucket load of problems it brought with it, but she simply replied, _"Because it's who I was born as, and because of my honour."_

That Susan had easily accepted. Reed had checked in on them as well sometime around 3 a.m. without Susan noticing, and Ranma was thankful that he had given them privacy after finding that everything seemed to be okay. Susan had made an interesting suggestion, but one that'd necessitate stepping up the time table as well as her efforts to get her hands on Warren.

_"It's a cruel thing to do to a mother, but the way you described her behaviour towards you and especially in taking this 'man among men' nonsense into account I cannot help but suggest that the child be taken away from her after birth," Susan said, "Who is to say that her crazy convictions won't destroy another life? You must ask yourself this, would you want this sword of Damocles hanging over your sibling's life? I sure as hell wouldn't, and if I were you I wouldn't put off rescuing him or her."_

**'And she's right. I can't afford putting it off,'** Ranma thought glumly, **'When I get back I'll find Warren, gut him and prove that I'm innocent. Then I'll rescue my sibling from... her clutches. Hell yeah! And now I wanna sleep.'**

Ranma rolled onto her left side, pulled the navy blue blanket up to her shoulder and hardly noticed that Sym formed comfortable sleep wear, and almost as soon as her head touched the pillow she was fast asleep.

-.-

Ranma awoke to sunlight softly filtering into the room through the large windows and looked at her wrist watch, noting that it was 9:35 a.m. **'Four and a half hours of rest. More than enough,'** she thought to herself. Yawning hugely she stretched languorously and got out of bed. Padding into the adjacent bathroom Ranma then conducted her morning business, and clothed in faded blue jeans and a red hoodie sweater and feeling fit as a fiddle she made a beeline for the living room and the adjacent kitchen. Getting her hands on her morning coffee was number one priority after all.

"Morning, Susan," Ranma greeted the older woman who was sitting at the head of a wooden oval table that was easily big enough to accommodate ten people.

Susan absently sipped her coffee and turned her head away from the large flatscreen affixed to the wall. "Morning, Ranma-chan. I see you don't need much sleep either, eh?"

Ranma sat down on the wooden chair to Susan's right. "Nope. Gimme three to four hours and I'm right as rain. Say, your face was all worried when you watched TV. What gives?"

"The dinos are attacking all over the world," Susan said with an explosive sigh, "They're turning people into slaves so that they can mine for those Tetratium crystals you found out they're after. Casualties are mounting, and there seems nothing anyone can do. Even Reed is at a loss."

"You can say that again," came a frustrated voice from the hallway, "I'm running out of ideas and fast," Reed said with a heavy sigh as he walked around the table, plopping down opposite of Ranma.

"But there's gotta be something to distinguish them from you guys, ya know, make them stand out so that we can get a lock on them," Ranma mused out loud, "Their ki, their life energy, sure feels different to me."

"Different... Yes," Reed muttered after a long moment of thought, "Ranma, you're a genius!"

"Ranma-chan," the strawberry blonde retorted calmly.

"Pardon me?" Reed asked, a brow cocked in confusion.

"Call me Ranma-chan, please. It is something Susan and I came up with to differentiate me from my double for the duration of my stay. It is a... necessary belittlement," she said with a sigh, "By the by, you don't seem confused to see me like this."

"Ah, I see," Reed nodded politely, not really seeing at all as he didn't have all relevant facts, "That I'm not surprised to see you like this is due to the power of logical deduction. Our Ranma told us about your ability to... shift to a European genotype and described your male form in great detail. I extrapolated what your female form would look like and keyed it into the security system. A few details aside like the colour of your hair I was spot on."

"Good forethought, dear," Susan said fondly and sipped her coffee, "Things would have turned unpleasant had our security system turned on Ranma-chan."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be anything left. Of my precious security system, that is," Reed agreed with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Ranma, looking decidedly amused as well, alternating between blowing on her coffee and sipping it. "I'm relieved to see that you're so similar to 'my' Reed. It gives me hope that you'll come up with something that'll allow me to kick 'em dinos scaly butts so hard it'll send them tumbling back to their dimension with their heads spinning."

"Morning all," came a tired voice from the door and Ranma shuffled in, looking like death warmed over for all intents and purposes, "Anything new?" he asked as he plopped down on the chair next to Reed, "Looking good there, double mine."

"Thanks," Ranma said and exaggeratedly tossed her hair which caused smiles.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there's news. Ranma-chan here-"

"Ranma-chan?" the local Ranma interrupted Reed, and a look of understanding crossed his face, "The use of this... belittlement," a look of distaste crossed his features, "For you to use it, it's because of what _she_ did, right?"

Ranma's face darkened and she nodded jerkily. Reed cleared his throat. "To get back to the topic at hand, Ranma-chan said something that gave me an idea, and her input was so simplistic that I simply overlooked it. Our main problem is that we can't track the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh on a worldwide scale. We just learn of an incursion when it's too late. But the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh have an identifying feature that makes them stand out, their quantum signature.

"I just have to build a sensor, outfit Ranma-chan with a teleporter and we, or rather she, will be able to combat them efficiently."

"Good thinking," Ranma nodded approvingly, "Provided your theory is sound, which I have no doubt about."

"The only problem I see is that it'll be very tiring on Ranma," Susan mused thoughtfully, "The stress this tactic will put on her system will be enormous."

Ranma blew an errant strand of hair out of her face and sipped her coffee. "Don't worry, it's nothing I won't be able to handle," she said confidently, making Susan shrug reluctantly.

"Then it's agreed upon," Reed said and clapped his hands, "I'll be in the lab," he then said and got to his feet, and grabbed the coffeepot as an afterthought, "And my creative processes are best facilitated by Sue's marvellous coffee."

"I'll go with you, Reed," Ranma said and got to his feet, "Two brilliant minds are better than one. And on the plus side, you have the coffee."

"That's too true, I've got the coffee, as a genius is entitled to," Reed said with a playful grin and guided his steps out of the kitchen, coffeepot held securely in his left hand, "Let's get caffeinated, then you can start on the schematics for the Quantum signature sensor array."

Ranma nodded as he walked alongside the other scientist. "Coffee first, work on the QSSA second. Sounds like a plan to me. You are aware that we'll have to place arrays all over the globe to ensure maximum coverage?" his fading voice said.

"Yes," Reed's equally fading voice replied, "But we-"

"Hey!" Ranma protested after looking down into her empty cup, "He stole the coffee! No fair!"

Susan chuckled. "Don't worry, I always keep one spare," she consoled.

"Mom, what are Uncle Ranma and dad up to now?" came a male voice from the door shortly before a well-built blond young man entered the room, "Whoa, who's the hottie?" he then queried with an impressed expression when his eyes fell on Ranma.

"The 'hottie' is probably the one who'll save the world as we know it," Susan spoke up before Ranma could, "And don't get your hopes up, she's off the market."

Franklin Richards pouted for a moment, then he shrugged. "Pity," he commented and plopped down across from Ranma, "I am Franklin Richards, and-"

"Frank, Frank, Frank," a female voice spoke up from the door, and a curvy blonde slightly older than Ranma with an uncanny resemblance to Susan stepped into the room, "Must you always hit on anything female and attractive?"

"As I haven't found the girl for me yet, yes," Franklin retorted almost petulantly, "And besides, you aren't better, sis. Or what's the name of the boyfriend of the week?"

Valerie, cheeks flushed red in anger had just opened her mouth for a retort when Susan's voice cut in, "That's enough out of the two of you. We have a guest, so behave accordingly."

Franklin and Valerie glared at each other and huffed before demonstratively turning away from each other. Susan shook her head and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "They both have academic grades, IQs that are off the charts and yet they act like kids. Damn, I'm getting too old for this shit."

Ranma watched in silent amusement how Susan took a swig of her coffee in an apparent effort to find her centre, then she sighed contently and trained her gaze on her children. "This is Ranma," she waved her hand at Ranma who inclined her head, "But please call her Ranma-chan to differentiate her from 'our' Ranma. As should be obvious, she's our guest from another dimension."

"Cool! What's it like where you come from?" Valerie asked curiously.

"So Uncle Ranma's sliding experiment was a success," Franklin had muttered at the same time with a contemplative expression that then brightened, "All the dimensions I could visit, all the girls I could meet..."

Valerie snorted eloquently. "Sadly, dear brother mine, it is likely to assume that these girls you'd stumble upon are intelligent and would thus run away when they see you."

A giggle escaped Ranma's lips which she eloquently covered up by coughing. "It's... okay in my home dimension. I live in my version of New York, and it's a pretty hectic but cool life."

"I heard that you have 'super powers'," Franklin interjected with a slightly sceptical expression, "Care to demonstrate?"

Ranma placed her cup on the table and got to her feet in lieu of answering, and tensing her muscles just a bit she jumped upward and adhered to the ceiling. Looking down at the astonished faces of the onlookers she then removed her right hand from the ceiling and formed a roiling ball of white ki. "That enough of a demonstration for you?" she asked pointedly, a brow cocked.

It took Franklin a few seconds to find his voice. "Uhh, yes."

"That's so cool!" Valerie gushed, "Is there more you can do?"

"Val, she's not a circus animal that performs tricks to please us," Susan admonished with a stern look.

Valerie looked a bit embarrassed, but when Ranma waved her hand in dismissal with a smile on her face a look of hope flashed across the younger blonde's face. "I don't mind, Sue. Well, let me think for a second," she mused and pretended to do just that, "I'm super strong and can lift weights in excess of eighty tons, I can adhere to any surface as you already saw, can turn invisible at will, can fire energy blasts, can form any kind of weapon when I'm in combat mode and can fire webbing. There's probably something I forgot, but those are the highlights."

"Eighty tons? Come on, tell us another one," Franklin said into the silence, "Nobody and nothing's that strong! Not even our bots!"

"I... find that a bit hard to believe as well," Valerie said hesitantly as if afraid she'd offend Ranma.

"Me too. But why don't we adjourn to the lab and ask your father if he has a way to prove or disprove Ranma's claim?" Susan suggested. "I wanted to stop by at the lab anyway to ask if they're ready yet. It never hurts to put a bit of pressure on your father and uncle. Sometimes I think they work better under pressure."

Franklin and Valerie exchanged a look and nodded in unison. Susan nodded as well and looked at Ranma. "Is that acceptable for you?"

Ranma smiled confidently. "Bring it."

Susan smiled as well and got up. "Come," she said simply and expected the teenagers to follow her, which they did.

Valerie and Franklin exchanged glances, communicating in that silent way siblings and – some – married couples are able to while Ranma walked a few steps behind them, a serene and confident smile on her face. They walked in silence until they reached the lab, and once at the entrance door Susan pushed the intercom. "Reed, we would like to enter."

The door opened a few moments later with a hiss in lieu of an answer, and shrugging to herself Susan walked in. "He's probably too busy to give a verbal reply," she mused with an amused shrug and led the way through the lab.

"You know how dad and uncle Ranma get when they're really into something. And this quantum signature sensor array sounds like one hell of a project, especially if it's going to help us fend off the dinos," Franklin spoke up.

"You know, this is one of the few times I have to agree with you, bro," Valerie mused teasingly, "Well, you know what they say about the blind dog and the bone."

"Reed," Susan hurried to say before another full-scale sibling squabble could erupt, "Our children have challenged Ranma-chan to prove the extent of her super powers. I must admit I am intrigued as well."

Reed and Ranma had turned around from their workbenches as one. "There's more aside from what you demonstrated?" the Saotome asked in surprise.

"Yes," Ranma retorted, "Super strength for one. I can lift more than eighty tons."

Reed and Ranma shared a look that was absolutely neutral. "I see. Then I've got just the thing for you," the double of Mr Fantastic mused and turned back to his workbench where he began to rummage in the drawers. His search quickly yielded results, and Reed turned around to face the others. In the palm of his left hand rested a midnight black ball of about five centimetres in diameter that seemed to absorb all light. "That is a little something I came up with when I was bored-"

"Uh oh," Susan, Valerie and Franklin chorused in unison.

Reed ignored the exclamations of his family with great dignity and fixated his gaze on Ranma. "I won't bore you with the details and cut right to the chase. This device collects particles from a white dwarf via subspace-"

Ranma held up her right index finger and smiled cutely. "Reed, no technobabble please. Just say what it does."

"But-" Reed began and sighed, visibly gathering himself, "Once activated this device gets heavier and heavier until it gets the stop command. I use it to test the robots I build, and theoretically there's no upper limit, so it should make for a good test."

"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Ranma asked with a grin and eyed the ball from all sides, and then she snatched it from Reed's open palm so fast no one noticed. Eyes bulged however when Ranma, standing in the same spot as before, threw the ball up into the air and caught it again.

"What the-" Valerie began.

"- fuck!" Franklin concluded.

"Language!" Susan chided absently, her facial expression as gobsmacked as the others. "But I share the sentiment, what in the world was that?"

Ranma grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "Oh, that? Just a practical demonstration of super speed."

"Wicked," Valerie breathed, her brother nodding vigorously.

"The available facts suggest that you moved faster than the eye could follow," her double mused thoughtfully and Reed hummed in agreement, "Is it some kind of physical conditioning or an actual super power?"

"I'm impressed you figured it out so quickly," Ranma said with a smile, "The answer is both. I trained very hard to raise my speed to super-human levels, and that is enhanced by my super powers.

"But now to the marble here. How do I activate it?"

"Just say 'starheart'," Reed replied, "You can set the steps in which the weight increases as you see fit. It's voice activated."

Ranma nodded in understanding. "Set weight increase to five tons per step," she said and ignored the shocked exclamations. The ball pulsed once, and before anyone could do anything Ranma said, "Starheart."

The ball pulsed, but Ranma hardly felt the increase in weight. "Dad," Franklin piped up, "I know it's unlikely, but is it defective?"

"Stop weight increase," Ranma commanded and cocked a brow before casually dropping the ball to the ground where it created a massive indentation with spider-web cracks emanating from the centre. "You were saying?" she asked dryly and bent down, easily picking up the ball with her left hand, revelling in the shocked expressions the others were sporting. "Start weight increase."

The ball pulsed and several more weight increases followed. Ranma had to switch to holding the ball with both hands at forty tons under the disbelieving stares of the onlookers, and the weight increased all the way up to 85 tons whence she commanded the device to stop. The pavement, specially designed for high stress tolerance, had cratered severely under her feet, and amusement bubbled up in Ranma as she looked at the gobsmacked expressions on the others' faces. "That enough proof for ya?" she asked coyly and buffed her nails, absently noting, "That's one difference to note down... I got stronger."

"85 tons... I mean, 85 freaking tons! So cool!" Valerie gushed.

"You can grind the dinos to paste with that kind of strength!" Franklin enthused.

"That's the plan," Ranma nodded, her expression darkening, "How long till everything's ready, you two? I wanna stop those bastards before they kill more people and do more damage."

Reed shook his head to gather his bearings and turned serious. "The schematics are complete. We should have a working prototype by noon, shouldn't we, Ranma?"

Raised out of his stupor by the question Ranma nodded his head. "Yeah, piece of cake."

Ranma nodded satisfied. "Good. I'll be out throwing wrenches into the dinos' plans till the prototype is ready," she said and guided her steps to the exit, "Later!"

"Damn, she's one tough lady!" Franklin exclaimed in an impressed tone.

"You've got no idea, Frank," Ranma muttered and shuddered, "I for my part wouldn't want to be a Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, cause it is open season on them."

"What I don't like is that she's doing all the dirty work for us," Susan mused thoughtfully, her face set into a frown, "Even if she says she does it gladly because she wants to pay them back-"

"With interest, Sue," Ranma interjected solemnly.

"Even though, it doesn't feel right," Susan muttered, "She shouldn't have to kill so many just to help us."

"Sue, a commonsensical human being – or should I say any intelligent and morally intact being what with the discovery that there's alien life out there I made nineteen years ago – doesn't mourn a warranted death. It's as Ranma said, the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh endanger not just us and our Earth, but countless others as well, hers included," Reed said and took a deep breath, "They must be stopped, and their deaths are warranted, they are justified."

"So you'd propagate genocide to stop them?" Susan asked quietly.

Reed sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "I hope it won't come to this and I have staved off the Oval Office by saying we have to find the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld for a retaliatory strike first, but if diplomatic solutions fail it may just be what it takes to protect ourselves from them," he finally said, his brown eyes fixating his wife, "The Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh that have come to our world have shown that our lives have absolutely no value to them. They kill, pillage and torture at random whilst accomplishing whatever task is set before them by whoever gives the commands, and even if they get their hands on all the Tetratium crystals our Earth has to offer, who is to say that they won't plant a doomsday bomb so that we cannot ever take revenge?

"As much as you and I cherish the thought that all life is precious, it might just come to a head where it's either the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh or us. And you can imagine the choice I'll make."

"You... You're right, Reed. It's just that the doctor side of me has trouble accepting that a whole species might have to be killed just so that we can be safe," Susan sighed.

"Don't forget, with the existence of countless parallel worlds it's not just us," Ranma's double pointed out. "And there's no telling how many more worlds they'd attack if they aren't stopped. It might just be that we have to come up with a permanent solution to the threat they pose. And one that isn't half-assed like trapping them in a micro-dimension or something as half-assed solutions have the habit of coming back to bite you in the ass even more fiercely than before."

"Uncle Ranma is right, but maybe it won't get that far. That we'll have to make the decision to wipe out the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh or not, I mean. Who knows, maybe they can be... convinced to stop their activities, as unlikely as it sounds right now," Valerie mused contemplatively.

"As you said, it's unlikely, sis, but it's still a possibility," Franklin spoke up in a carefully neutral tone, "And the whole discussion is academic anyway for as long as the sensor array isn't online."

"Right. We, or rather Ranma-chan, won't be able to fight the dinos efficiently until then," Valerie said, "I just hope not too many incursions happen until you two are ready."

"Yeah, yeah, up the pressure on the poor scientists, will ya, just like your mother is wont to," Ranma mock-lamented and made a gesture like he wanted to pull his hair.

Valerie grinned. "Like mother, like daughter," she retorted, eliciting smiles.

"But seriously, we've got our work cut out for us. Once the sensor array's ready we have to analyse the timer and the weapons my other self liberated," Ranma almost sighed, "Sometimes I almost wish I could clone myself."

"And we have a continuous scan for her home dimension going, but that's luckily autonomous and doesn't need supervision," Reed added, his gaze turning scolding, "Did you finally upload the program that allows the timer to store dimensional coordinates?"

Ranma nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. Better late than never, huh?"

"I sense a story here!" Franklin exclaimed, his eyes shining with unholy curiosity.

"Yeah, spill the beans, uncle Ranma!" Valerie demanded, equal curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Ah, well, you see, that is," Ranma began, then recomposed himself and sighed, "I had forgotten to upload the program your father spoke of into the timer before I left. Call it scientists' disease, call it forgetfulness, call it whatever. Due to this Ranma-chan's coordinates could logically not be stored by the timer, and now we have this scan going until it finds a dimension that's a match for her quantum signature."

Valerie whistled. "Damn, you screwed up big time, uncle Ranma!"

"Yeah, you got her stranded here," Franklin added and mused thoughtfully, "Not that I mind, she is a sight to behold even though she's taken, but if I were you I'd make plans to make it up to her."

"I know," Ranma admitted sheepishly, "And my subconscious is already hard at work."

"Good," Susan spoke up and clapped her hands, "We will leave you two to your own devices so that you can invent to your heart's content."

Franklin and Valerie exchanged a look and nodded. Hanging out and watching their uncle and father whizz about was boring anyway. The finished articles those two turned out, now that was another story.

No one was the wiser that Ranma had listened in on the whole conversation, invisible and undetectable, or that she shared Reed's point of view. A point of view that meshed so well with her own ever since she had bonded with Sym. Their joining and her encounters with super-villains the likes of Doctor Octopus with all the consequences for her morals she had long since realised and accepted, had turned her into some kind of lethal protector, someone who was unwilling to feel any measure of remorse over a vindicated death.

Wiping out a whole sentient species registered on a wholly different scale as killing a few of the dinosaur rejects, however, but she had admitted to herself that it seemed like a distinctly possible scenario. And her counterpart was spot on. Too much was at stake here, so using half assed solutions which was a sure fire way to bungle the job were a definite no go.

Gauging from their goals and the behaviour the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh had shown they seemed very much like the embodiment of evil conquerors, and those of their race she had encountered had deserved death. If she found out that the species as a whole was this corrupt she would have to ensure that they would never cause harm to anyone ever again, especially not to the love of her life.

If it came to it, which she hoped it wouldn't but feared it would, if she had to go through a whole world of dinos to ensure the safety of everyone on this planet and hers as well, so be it. She had long since become a blooded warrior, more blood on her hands would hardly matter in the end. After all, there were some individuals seemingly chosen by fate that had to dirty their hands so that others could rest peacefully at night. She had long since come to the realisation that she was one of the 'chosen few'; regrets she had no time for, those could come later, had to come later.

-.-

When Ranma returned from her mission around noon she was delighted to find that Reed and her double had indeed delivered. The first three QSSA's were ready for deployment, and Ranma had been outfitted with a long-range teleporter capable of crossing the world.

Taking into account that one sensor array could cover two-thousand kilometres of ground Reed and her double had made detailed plans of where the QSSA's were to be placed, and Ranma had been given a detailed map with locations all over the world.

At 12:16 a.m. two QSSA's had been placed in locations in America with the third remaining in the Baxter Building. Reed and Ranma had outdone themselves, Ranma mused, as the teleport returned her to the lab. Not only were the QSSA's as maintenance-free as could be, they had also been equipped with state of the art cloaking technology that made their detection exceedingly hard.

Grabbing another three finished QSSA's Ranma waved a good bye and placed them as well. This procedure was repeated twenty times, and then the net was complete.

From then on out time seemed to fly right out the window. After she had eliminated every Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh on the globe Ranma found herself on one mission after the other, but she kept up with the brutal pace and foiled incursion after incursion.

She didn't rest more than three to four hours per night, but paid diligent attention to keep a balanced diet so as to stay at peak performance levels at all times. The need to stay female when going out on hunts had been facilitated by the fact that the invaders were 'used' to being killed by an unbeatable and unkillable female alien.

Adding Chaos to the equation would have reduced her reputation as the mysterious monster who was single-handedly fighting the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh empire to a standstill. But despite her best efforts, wave after wave of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh came rolling over this Earth, seemingly without end, and Ranma asked herself increasingly more often how long she would last, could last in this war of attrition.

The down times she spent with her double and the others, and swapping life stories with the other Ranma had revealed interesting things. The divergence in the native Ranma's life, this world's Nodoka's decision that her son had to follow in her line's footsteps and was to become a 'scientist amongst scientists' ruined any and all chances to unite the Saotome and Tendo schools. The native Soun Tendo had not been pleased that Genma had failed to uphold the promise he had made when Ranma was born, and the resulting fallout had driven a wedge between the former friends. Both students of Happosai hadn't spoken in thirty years, and Ranma himself had never cared to get to know the Tendos at all.

Ranma had not dared to ask about this world's doubles of her parents for fear of hearing what she didn't want to hear, that they had been better parents, that they'd been there for him, especially Nodoka. Her double had to have sensed this as he glossed over those aspects of his life and stuck to painting a very tout court picture.

As for the native Happosai, the old Grandmaster had freed himself from the prison he'd been incarcerated in by the native Genma and Soun as well, but after terrorising Nerima virtually unopposed for a bit he had quickly grown bored and had left for destinations unknown. He had not been heard from since.

Another glaring difference in the native Ranma's life was the fact that his father had never had the chance to promise his son's hand in marriage. But it seemed that fate had an interesting sense of humour, and it so happened that he had got to know one Ukyo Kuonji at Tokyo U. She had studied business economics at the time and they'd hit it off really well.

They'd rolled in the hay a few times before finding that they weren't what the other wanted in life, though, but they had remained good friends. Native Ukyo had taken up studying economics and other related courses upon Ranma's suggestion and had graduated in the top half of her class with his help. She was now the proud owner of a very successful franchise named 'Ucchan's' with subsidiaries all over the world.

Native Ranma had made no mention of other notorious Nerimans aside from the Kunos. The principal had apparently been sacked early on when this world's version of the Ministry of Education had learned of his 'alternative' teaching methods, and the Head of the Kuno family had lost custody of both Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno amongst things due to the inquiry that had followed.

Ranma's double knew all this just from hearsay as he had attended a private school that focussed on the 'Arts of science' as he had called them, but he still remembered that the Kuno siblings had received psychological help and were pillars of the Neriman community nowadays. Fact that made Ranma shake her head and prompted her to silently muse if things might have happened differently had something similar happened in her dimension.

Without a reason to, the Joketsozoku had never come to Nerima (provided they existed in this dimension in the first place), and the other elements like Herb and Saffron had never affected the native Ranma's life. Upon answering Ranma's question of where the Joketsozoku, Musk and Phoenix were living at in Ranma's dimension he had said, "Intriguing. That's where the Chinese government conducted a large scale nuclear weapons test ten years ago. There's nothing but desolate, irradiated landscape for hundreds of miles. I'm not certain if it means anything, though, as it is unknown if any of these tribes ever actually existed in this dimension."

Ranma hadn't really known how to respond to this titbit of information, and sensing that she'd been at a loss her double had described his life after university. He had led an – in his words – exhilarating life of science, made several important discoveries in physics – sometimes in cooperation with his good friend Prof Dr Peter Parker, docent of advanced physics at Empire State University – and other fields of science. His personal life he briefly touched on, mentioning that his fiancée, Felicia Hardy, had been killed in a drunken driving accident nine years ago.

Ranma hadn't had the heart to tell him that she was together with her dimension's Felicia, so she had just begun to tell her audience her life story seeing as her double had finished telling his life story anyway. Needless to say her friends had been spellbound. It had been the first but certainly not the last evening spent retelling the many adventures of the time spent in Nerima.

-.-

The turning point in the conflict with the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh came at Ranma's twenty-fifth day in her double's dimension. She had just eliminated four platoons in Antwerp and had the overall commander kneeling before her when a giant, red portal formed.

Rain drizzled down on the almost empty courtyard of the Cathedral of Our Lady from grey skies, but the dimensionally misplaced Parker paid it no heed. Her attention was almost exclusively fixated on the extraordinarily big vortex that had formed a hundred metres away from her position, and she almost absently disposed of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh commander by decapitating him. Paying the headless, twitching body no mind she waited with almost trepidation what it was that would emerge from the rift crossing dimensions, hoping that it wasn't the bomb that would end them all.

Relief flooded her when one green-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh after the other appeared until they totalled twenty-four, and then the last two arrivals appeared. Ranma involuntarily craned her neck to get a good view of the taller creature. It was similar in built to its brethren, just that it was ten times their height (which made the beast just shy of twenty-two metres tall), and looked not dissimilar to a T-Rex with its huge teeth. The factors that differentiated this creature from the extinct T-Rex lay in its midnight black body armour and shoulder-mounted beam weapons on both sides.

The other arrival, a black-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh a full head taller than its green-scaled brethren contorted its face in what was unmistakeably a sneer. Tapping some silvery device affixed to his right chest plate he began to hiss, and the words were translated to English almost instantly. "I am Zzzz'Hhh'Ttt'Aaa, Supreme Commander of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh empire's war machine, and I have lowered myself to having my glorious language translated to the most commonly spoken apeling language.

"So you're the one hindering our efforts. The Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh empire does not take kindly to opposition. Opposition is crushed, resistance is useless.

"Take despair in the knowledge that your actions have doomed this world, and once we got what we want a singularity will be all that's left of this lousy waste of space.

"Any last words before my pet eats you?"

Ranma asked Sym to modify her vocal chords again and spoke, confident that the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh's translator would do its job. **"Scaly fools! I came to this world first, it is mine! For coming here like pillagers, looting and killing like this world belongs to you scaly bastards your lives are forfeit,"** she said in an arctic tone and switched to her most scary configuration with full tendrils, spikes all over her body and wicked looking claws, **"Your mothers were all warm-blooded bitches that did the nasty with a turtle, now DIE!"** she snarled, bent down and pressed her palms on the cobbled pavement.

The Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh had no time to comment on this seemingly ridiculous behaviour or act in any way or form as countless symbiote generated spikes began to shoot forth from the ground. Each spike impaled a warrior and lifted him off the ground amongst hisses of agony or death rattles, green blood beginning to flow down the length of the spikes in rivulets.

Those unfortunate enough to have survived the initial attack quickly joined their brethren in death when the spikes exploded inside their bodies, inflicting gaping wounds that were far too severe to survive. All told the onslaught had taken ten seconds with the overall commander seemingly too surprised to react, and acting quickly Ranma retracted her appendages and let the bodies hit the floor, switching targets.

In the blink of an eye her blades and tendrils descended on the surprised Zzzz'Hhh'Ttt'Aaa, but his surprise quickly turned to amusement when Ranma's attacks bounced off of a forcefield. "If that's the extent of your abilities you're already dead, for you'll find that physical attacks won't work on me. Zzz'ccchh'tttaaa, my pet, no need to contain your hunger any longer. And when you are through with whatever this is," he arrogantly waved his right claw at Ranma, "you can feed as much as you like. Now have fun while I plan the destruction of this pitiful world."

The 'pet' roared in reply and the black-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh pressed a button on his timer with a cruel smile. That he had taken his eyes off Ranma would prove to be the last mistake he would ever make.

-.-

Ranma stood fuming at the arrogance Zzzz'Hhh'Ttt'Aaa displayed, and a plan already forming she created six extra arms and retrieved eight Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh rifles from her subspace storage. Compressing her lips into a thin line she fired all eight at the back of Zzzz'Hhh'Ttt'Aaa's head before the 'pet' could even begin to act in any way or form, and her resolve to see this through grew – there was no alternative anyway – when the forcefield protecting him flared, flickered and died in the span of seconds.

A headless corpse with a smoking stump in place of its head fell to the ground with a thud, and the Supreme Commander of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh empire's war machine hadn't even had time to scream. Ranma blew imaginary smoke from the uppermost right rifles' business end. "Every forcefield can be overloaded, o high and mighty 'Supreme Commander'," she grunted and jumped high into the air from one moment to the next when the giant beast roared in apparent anger at its owners' death, the energy blasts aimed for Ranma tearing up the cobbled courtyard, stone fragments spraying everywhere.

Ranma acted quickly and stored the two topmost weapons and fired her webbing right at the 'pet's' eyes. Her attack hit dead on and elicited a thunderous growl that rattled the windows in the surrounding buildings, and Ranma nodded in satisfaction. Having temporarily blinded the gigantic creature she landed gracefully on the ground, took aim and fired all six weapons at the beasts' head. Like before a shimmering forcefield popped up, but when Ranma retrieved the other two rifles and began firing them as well it collapsed quickly.

The giant T-Rex simulacrum had time to roar one final time before it was silenced forever, its head reduced to naught. Ranma watched dispassionately as the headless corpse collapsed to the ground with seemingly enough force to shake the surrounding buildings in their foundations. "So the really high ups and their pets have forcefields, but they can be overloaded with enough firepower. Good to know."

Scanning the surrounding area for more threats and quickly ending a few commanders that still showed signs of life – even if in a severely reduced fashion – Ranma walked over to the Supreme Commander's corpse and bent down for a thorough check.

She found to her pleasure that the translator affixed to the breastplate could be easily removed, and stored this along with any other useful items she could find. The most useful item had to be the timer, though. It would have to be carefully studied and deciphered by Reed and her double to see if the coordinates of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld were stored in it. But the still open vortex swirling in front of her strongly suggested it.

Using the vortex to the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld now as she had briefly considered was too much of a risk as she didn't fancy being stranded on a hostile world, but maybe there were other options. Tapping her right ear through the facemask Ranma activated her headset, and not a second later Reed was on the other end of the line. "Reed, just got done in Antwerp. How it went? Oh, you know, saw the sights, killed the dinos' Supreme Commander and his T-Rex of a pet as well as a lot of warriors of the 'commander caste', got my hands on a very promising timer, and we have an open vortex here."

She almost snickered at the stunned silence on the other end but pushed on. "Say, cat got your tongue?" she queried casually and buffed her claws. "No? Coulda fooled me. What's that? You'll send a reconnaissance drone? Cool idea! Ah, here it is already," she exclaimed as a small flying silvery robot teleported in five metres to her right, "Clever little thing, it went right in. Anyway, I'm now returning to base. Ja."

Her mission accomplished Ranma did as she'd said and teleported straight back to base.

-.-

Twenty minutes after her return to the Baxter Building Ranma sat in the kitchen, freshly showered and with a mug of coffee in her right hand. She had handed all of her 'booty' over to Reed and her double (including Zzzz'Hhh'Ttt'Aaa's corpse as it might just give up clues how the personal forcefield worked), and a smile quirked up the corners of her mouth at the memory of the looks of childish glee on their faces when they had held the timer in their hands.

The device was probably fully dissected and half deciphered by now, Ranma mused and took a sip of her coffee. If anything, Reed and her double were efficient, so efficient and so good a team it was almost scary. That they'd soon have all pertinent facts for planning their further strategy suited her just fine. But despite being constantly at the front and the distraction it brought with it, she missed her own precious people.

"A penny for your thoughts," Susan said quietly from her favourite chair, her own mug of coffee held in her left hand.

"It's nothing, Sue," Ranma said softly, and sighed, "It's just... I miss them. And I hope it's over soon."

"I understand, dear. We are not them, and you must miss Felicia terribly," Susan said in understanding, "I too hope that this'll be over soon, for all our sakes."

"Me too. Fighting the dinos like this is getting... tedious," Ranma admitted with a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I don't like killing, and usually I go for disabling strikes when I fight, but... but I'm still so angry at them for almost killing me. For almost taking my future with Felicia away. Which is probably why I'm using everything in my arsenal I have when I fight them. I... I can't risk them getting back up, they're far too dangerous. Still, I just don't like it, but it has to be done."

"I understand," Susan replied sympathetically, and her brows furrowed, "Say, how do you feel about the possibility that you might be the one to make the decision to wipe out a whole species? That it might be up to you to judge if they live or die? It must weigh terribly on you!"

Ranma slowly lowered her cup and placed it on the table, her expression betraying nothing. "Let's face the facts. Sue. The Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh are a warrior race, and one seemingly without a code of honour, with all that entails. Conquering, looting, torturing, killing, you name it, they do it. Human life doesn't matter to them, and I know from my encounters with them that they regard us as little more than cattle. Disposable human resources, that's what people are to them.

"I have learned from interrogating some of their higher ups that all that matters to them is to increase their might, be it through harvesting those Tetratium crystals in this dimension or attacking other alternate Earths and assimilating their technology. They're an incredible danger to their own dimension, but with the sliding technology they're a danger to countless parallel dimensions, my own included. They already crossed the line when they attacked you guys, 'cause you sure as hell are my friends. And I'd storm the very gates of hell to help my friends.

"But most of all, I will not wait until the fuckin' dinos have amassed enough power to be a danger to my dimension and my loved ones, especially to Felicia, whom I hope will be more than my girlfriend one day. That's how I feel about the possibility of having to judge if they live or die. If I find enough evidence that they deserve to be wiped out, I will... I will do what's necessary."

Susan nodded very solemnly. "I understand, Ranma-chan. And I heard in your voice that you hope against hope that you won't have to do it, that there's another way. Believe me, me too," she said and patted the younger woman's hands.

"Thanks for lending an ear and being a friend, Sue," Ranma said with a smile.

Susan smiled right back. "You're welcome, dear. But I admit I hadn't expected that. Granted, I'd hoped that we'd become friends, but to hear it from you like that... thank you, Ranma-chan."

"Welcome," Ranma retorted and grinned cheekily, "Nobody can resist my charm, everyone loves me in the end."

"Don't get too cheeky, missy, for keep in mind, pride comes before a fall," Susan reminded only half jokingly, "To get back to what you said about the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, I can't fault your logic. Reed said something remarkably similar, but I am saddened by the fact that it's you who's doing all our dirty work."

"Don't be, Sue," Ranma said evenly and took a sip of her coffee, "I have long since come to the realisation that there are some people seemingly chosen by fate that have to dirty their hands so that others can sleep at night.

"Me, I've always found it ironic that the populace will never be aware of the lengths their protectors have to go to to keep them safe," she mused almost to herself and chuckled quietly before turning steely glinting determined eyes on Sue, "But there's no point in even thinking about it, I have long since come to terms with the fact that my deeds will hardly ever be known, and the thing is, I don't do what I do for accolades and acknowledgement, I do it because it's the right thing to do."

"Regardless of what happens, I promise you here and now that this world will know what you did for it," Susan retorted with the same conviction Ranma had spoken with and continued before the younger woman could protest, "I understand that you don't want it, and being modest has never hurt, but I'm sure you know the expression 'honour to whom honour is due'. You've already done far more for than anyone could have asked of you, Ranma-chan, it's the least we can do."

Ranma thought for a moment then nodded in reluctant acceptance. "Don't seem like I can convince you otherwise," she sighed and had to smile at Susan's firm head shake, "As long as they don't name a bridge after me. 'The great Ranma bridge', now that'd sound really silly."

Susan held up her hand and giggled in mirth. "Not to mention corny," she guffawed, and Ranma quickly joined in. "Anyway, Reed will come up with a way to show the world what you did for us, as is only right. I'm glad you saw reason, dear."

"What chance did I have against someone who is used to dealing with two teenagers older than me?" Ranma asked with a wry smile, "And had you got Reed involved he'd probably have talked me into agreeing like nobody's business."

"Sue, Ranma-chan, please come to the lab! We made a breakthrough!" Reed's excited voice echoed from the intercom.

The women exchanged a look, smiled in unison and downed their coffees. "Speak of the devil," Ranma muttered softly and shook her head in amusement, getting to her feet alongside Susan.

"Let's see what those two have cooked up," Susan said, and the two walked to the lab with distance-eating strides.

-.-

Ranma noticed upon their arrival that Ben, Johnny, Franklin and Valerie – who had spent the day relaxing in the games room as so often since the invasion induced incarceration – were also present. Waving at them she decided to be a bit mischievous, and tensing her muscles she jumped upwards, easily adhering to the ceiling and hanging from the aforementioned ceiling like a giant spider.

"Must you always do that?" her double chided, "It makes me feel so... common."

"Get used to it, older me, I'm just that awesome. And it ain't like I haven't done this a few times before, like, a few dozen times, ne?" Ranma retorted with a saccharine grin.

Ranma grumbled to himself and schooled his features. "The reason why we called you here is, well, you can probably take a pretty educated guess."

"You deciphered the timer and have the coordinates of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld," Ranma spoke up.

"You made a contingency plan and built a bomb to eradicate the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh should the shit hit the fan," Franklin supplied.

"Yes and yes," Reed replied and looked very grave, "I have been given the order by the President and the other nations to build a bomb that can be used as a 'tactical measure to prevent humanity's extinction'. The political leaders feel it's their duty to ensure the safety of this world and countless others by 'retaliating strongly and decisively'. It's practically an 'have to obey' order issued by the White House and the United Nations, but I staved them off by claiming that we'll have to find the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld first."

"Is it election time?" Ranma asked only half jokingly.

"Isn't it always?" Reed asked with a shrug; his expression turning serious again Reed's brows furrowed in thought, "But as usual, there's a few things to consider. One of us will have to travel to the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld to investigate. That'll be your job, Ranma-chan, as you're uniquely suited for it, literally."

"I've heard worse puns, Reed," Ranma mused in an amused tone, "And I'll be ready."

"I assumed as much. Even if our esteemed political leaders are all for wiping out the threat I feel it is our duty to find out the situation as a whole," Reed remarked seriously.

"You mean find out if there's an underground resistance that wants to stop the evil government or something similar, dad?" Valerie mused.

"Yes. I'm of the opinion that we need to have all pertinent facts before we make a decision of this magnitude, decision of the White House and the UN or not," Reed agreed, "If there's just no other way we have to make sure the bomb is planted safely, and that is something that can be ensured due to your versatility, Ranma. If you'd follow me over here," the genius scientist said with a wave of his right hand.

Looks were exchanged and the other seven followed the genius scientist to where he had indicated. A huge cylindrical something sat innocently in a corner, but the vibes they got from what had to be The Bomb were far from innocent. "This is a little something I've had in the drawer for a long time, so it was easy to assemble it quickly. It's a last resort weapon should we ever become involved in interplanetary war.

"You'll likely all want to know why I cooked up a bomb that can annihilate a planet in one go. Well, my friends and relatives know this already. I became very cautious after I encountered an alien that called himself Gormuu nineteen years ago. He intended to conquer Earth, but luckily I was able to finish him off with the tools at my disposal. I never kid myself into believing that this would be the last hostile alien encounter, hence why I prepared for the worst. And we all know that the worst has the habit of happening sooner or later."

"Can say that again, Brainster," Ben muttered with a consenting nod.

"Anyway, this bomb is part of the arsenal I created, and it is the worst kind of bomb I was able to conceive. Believe me, I had to delve deep into my Machiavellian side to come up with this monster. Once activated the on board AI scans the tectonic and geological conditions of its target and suggests the optimum locations for placement," Reed concluded.

"Hot damn, Reed, this… Bomb sounds like something my self-proclaimed rival would come up with, but I see your point," Ranma said softly.

"Rival?" Ranma asked with a strong sense of foreboding.

"Yeah," Ranma drawled with a long-suffering sigh, "Fella by the name of Ryoga Hibiki. He has some weird delusions of being my arch-rival ever since I beat him at a science fair, and this whole Big Bomb business is straight up his alley."

"Good to see I ain't the only one to have a Hibiki problem," Ranma muttered softly, "Or used to have. He was my self-proclaimed rival in my dimension as well until my life went to hell in a hand-basket. Pig-headed, occasionally overcome by bouts of murderous rage, but all in all an okay guy who'd be there for ya if you're ever between a rock and a hard place."

"Yep, that description fits 'my' version of Ryoga to a T," Ranma mused, "He's almost pathologically obsessed with besting me, but I'm certain he'd help us out in a heartbeat were we to ask. Not that it's needed as it seems."

"We really gotta compare notes sometimes," Ranma muttered almost to herself and sighed, "Gotta admit I'm curious about your life."

"Gladly. As soon as we have some down time, then," Ranma agreed with a nod.

Reed smiled softly. "You two do that. Well, everything's been taken care of in regards to the bomb, and I'm quite certain that my design is superior to Hibiki's."

"I know better than to say anything 'bout his ego 'cause he can actually back it up," Johnny muttered softly prompting the others to nod sagely.

Reed just smiled modestly. "Now to the only disadvantage this bomb brings with it: it has to be brought to its target area, and with its one ton net weight it isn't a light weight. But seeing as you can lift many times that, Ranma, it shouldn't pose a problem."

"How'd you get it into place normally, I mean, what if I weren't here?" Ranma inquired curiously.

Reed's expression turned even more serious. "I have built very well armed robots that are almost as strong as you for just that purpose. They're heavily armoured and capable of unassisted flight, and they would ensure that The Bomb gets to its target area safely," Reed explained evenly.

"Then why don't we use them against the invaders?" Johnny demanded hotly.

"Because they're weapons of mass destruction," Reed retorted with a heavy sigh, "They'd take out entire city blocks with their armament, and in short, do more harm than good.

"I have thought about using them, believe me, but the risk of more people dying than otherwise is too great."

"Fuck," Johnny swore ineloquently.

"Indeed. I am working on models that pose less of a danger to those they are to protect, but with everything that's happened I've made little progress," Reed admitted with a sigh, "I must admit that it irks me that I haven't prepared for an invasion like the one that's currently taking place, one where the invaders have direct access to our world. All the defensive and offensive measures I put in place for an extra-terrestrial threat are virtually useless."

"You couldn't have known, dad, as you didn't have all pertinent facts," Franklin spoke up.

"Much as it pains me to say, Frank's right, dad. No human being can anticipate everything, and despite your pathos, despite your genius intellect, you're still human," Valerie added with conviction.

Reed smiled sheepishly and winked at his wife almost imperceptibly to convey how proud he was of their children. "Thanks for setting me straight, you two."

"Now let me get this back on track," Ranma said slowly, "Provided I come to the conclusion the dinos deserve to die, what then?"

Reed rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Should you indeed come to the decision that diplomatic solutions are impractical you need to determine the best possible location and bring the bomb to the spot you've chosen. Then you start the process that will get the bomb into place. You should keep a safety distance of at least a kilometre. The thrusters that'll do the initial burrowing are extremely powerful. Yes, burrowing."

"The most diabolical feature of this bomb is that it is designed to burrow itself into the core of its target. To do its job I have equipped it with a ten terawatt phased beam weapon powered by a quantum singularity. It'll cut through any planetary crust like a hot knife through butter. Once the core's been reached the containment seals will stop working, and ten kilograms of antimatter will react with the surrounding matter and annihilate anything and everything."

"The AI I mentioned is severely protected and it is unlikely that it will be hacked in the short time it takes the bomb to get into place. Should it still be hacked, well, it'll do jack shit since there's just no emergency shutdown. All the AI's for anyway is to determine a promising spot and get the bomb into place, but it might just be that I compiled its file size to many times bigger than necessary and included dozens of defensive layers to make it look more important. So while the target wastes time trying to get the AI under control it won't even delay the inevitable," Reed finished his explanation.

"So that's what he does when he says he needs some time to relax," Susan muttered in disbelief and shook her head, "Others watch super bowl and my husband builds planet destroying bombs. Te-heh."

"There, there, Susan, he was bored," the local Ranma spoke up and shrugged, "The strangest things happen when a scientist gets bored."

"You can say that again, bro," Ranma commented, "`My´ Reed's just as bad."

"Damn, dad's scary!" Valerie said in a stage-whisper.

"You can say that again, sis, scary, but brilliant, brilliant, but scary," Franklin whispered in awe and added, "Not that we couldn't have done something similar ourselves, but to have the balls to actually build it... I'm impressed, dad."

"What Frank said, dad," Valerie agreed, "The design is scarily brilliant, I just hope we'll never have to use it in our dimension."

"You and me both, dear, you and me both," Reed said seriously, "It's a terrible weapon."

"A horrible, awful, _effectual_ weapon, Reed, and if Murphy has a say in it probably just what we'll need against the dinos," Ranma mused from her position under the ceiling, "With that in mind I'll take The Bomb with me on my trip. No sense in deciding diplomacy ain't it and coming back to fetch The Bomb."

"That's logical. Any problems with the feasibility, Ranma-chan?" Reed asked.

Ranma eyed the bomb. "About two metres in height, fifty centimetres in diameter, one ton net weight. Nope, no problems. It'll fit into my subspace pockets easily and I'm certain it can't be detected there. But I'll want a quick 'how to'. It won't do if the operation fails just because I haven't been trained in its use accordingly."

"I wanted to give you an overview anyway," Reed nodded and clapped his hands, "I'm not certain if I should say 'good', but Operation Infiltration is a go."

-.-

On the 27th Feb, 2010 at 7:03 a.m. one Ranma formerly of the Saotome clan, visitor from Earth-616, stood in the living room of the Baxter Building in full battle gear. The coordinates of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld had been uploaded into 'her' timer, and due to the fact that their reconnaissance drone had confirmed that the dinos' equivalent of Antwerp was nothing but desert before it had self-destructed her excursion would start from there.

She was fully caffeinated and had supplies stored for several days, and the big A-bomb was stored safely in her subspace pocket. The holographic training Reed had given her had been very effective and useful, and she had expressed her wish that learning something new should always be as interesting as this experience.

Her serious gaze travelled over her friends, and with one last nod and a smile she teleported to Antwerp. Rain was falling down from grey skies in heavy drops, but Ranma didn't care. The courtyard was luckily completely devoid of life which was probably due to the relentless Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh attacks, but that nobody was around suited her just fine. Pulling out her timer she pushed the button that'd open the gate to the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld, and the red swirling vortex formed almost immediately.

"There's no time like the present," Ranma muttered, stored the timer and went full stealth mode, then she jumped in.

The actual slide was quite similar to her first one, just that she had the subjective impression that it took longer this time around which she attributed to taking more turns at 'crossroads'. The vortex finally spat her out in the middle of a desert that looked just like the video images the reconnaissance drone had sent, tall dunes of sand surrounding her.

What she didn't expect were the four platoons of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh clad in strange white full-body armour milling about, and Ranma stealthily crept away from the vortex instead of killing the soldiers as she had yet to find out if there were more in the area. Her top priority was to learn how much time she had in this dimension anyway, for she couldn't be bothered to get her hands on another timer just because she'd been stranded here.

"Another failed operation?" the green-scaled commander closest to the vortex hissed, and Ranma had to commend the geniuses that were Reed and her double; they had outdone themselves as was evident that the translator she had liberated from the Supreme Commander was working.

"Seems so, Sub-Commander Zzz'Kkk'Lll'Sss," another member of the newly named sub-commander caste hissed and swept a scanning device over the area, "Nothing. No heat signature that'd indicate an intruder, nor other evidence. There's nobody coming through from our side either, and the vortex is closing. It seems this unknown... alien has struck again."

"I have heard it leaves no survivors and kills most brutally, whatever it is. I hope the higher ups hurry with the bomb that'll lay waste to this mudball the natives call Earth," a third sub-commander hissed, "This is getting bothersome. There have to be worlds that can be exploited more easily."

"Yes, where is the fun in killing if you run the risk of being killed yourself?" the fourth sub-commander agreed in a hiss.

Ranma, who had heard enough silently crept away. **'So the Supreme Commander what's his name told the truth. The dinos are prepping a bomb to nuke the planet. Okay, that definitely tips the scales. Should I find more evidence like this diplomacy can go screw itself!'** she thought viciously.

— _**Ineloquently put but certainly correct, —**_ opined Sym and added, _**— We should find out how much time we have left in this dimension as soon as possible so that we can plan accordingly. Me, I am all for destroying the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh and the threat they pose to us and thus do not really care about the duration of our stay as long as it is long enough to allow us to do our job, but I know you, and I know that you will want to make a decision based on solid facts. But I implore you, do not shy away from making the hard decision. Think about those you want to keep safe and the responsibility you have towards them. —**_

Ranma just nodded silently, privately noting Sym's attempts at manipulating her for what they were. She _had_ already made up her mind that she'd follow through on whatever she'd decide on, be it the diplomatic or the apocalyptic solution, and her symbiote knew this. Well, being violent in nature despite her having rubbed off on Sym she could hardly fault the symbiote for trying to impinge on the decision. **'Can't tell a fish to stop swimming,'** the symbiote host thought with an internal chuckle.

The cloaked Earthling took a moment to sharpen her focus and carefully made her way away from the soldiers in a direction her senses had told her was Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh free and hid behind a large natural rock outcropping five kilometres eastward.

Whipping out her timer caused her cloaking field to flicker minutely, but seeing as no one was nearby to notice - they would have had to look real hard too and in just the right moment - it didn't matter.

**'Fuck!'** Ranma swore mentally, **'Ten hours eleven minutes! Now that's one heckova lot of time!'**

— _**More than enough time for you to sate your curiosity and come to a decision based on facts. Now do not dawdle and infiltrate the indigenous population, lazy bum! —**_ Sym chided as pragmatic as ever, _**— And do not worry about detection. As seen, the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh do not have the means to trace us. I assume there was never a need to concentrate on the field of tracking as their being a cold-blooded species is a natural advantage in and on itself in regards of stealth. —**_

**'Good thinking, Sym,'** Ranma sent back, **'I don't sense any dinos westward, and I need to operate freely anyway to find a good spot to place the big guy.'**

— _**Westward it is, then, —**_ Sym agreed.

Ranma smiled in lieu of an answer and tensed her muscles, and in a jump any spider would have been proud of they were off.

Two hours into their travel Ranma came upon semi-solid ground as the landscape began to change from desert to steppe. Aided and abetted by the fact that no dinos were nearby for miles Ranma gulped down several ration bars and guzzled down an impressive amount of water. Then she whipped out the 'big guy' and activated the AI to be prepared just in case.

The program diligently began its work and scanned the whole planet, spitting out coordinates after coordinates. Ranma committed them to memory to the best of her abilities and nodded to herself. **'The most promising spot seemed to be a hundred kilometres northbound. What says you, Sym?'**

— _**I concur. Provided you come to the right decision, plant the bomb five minutes before your slide. That should give you enough of a time window, —**_ Sym replied.

**'Let me make my mind up on what's the right decision, yeah? Good. It takes the bomb two and a half minutes to reach the core, plus another two for the effects to show,'** Ranma nodded to herself, **'Now we got round about eight hours to investigate.'**

— _**Indeed. As they say, let us rock! — **_Sym exclaimed.

Ranma's brows climbed into the hairline and she privately thought to herself that her symbiote seemed to be in dire need of a vacation, but shrugging to herself she was off.

-.-

Ranma couldn't believe her luck. The optimum spot the AI had indicated was located in a deep, natural canyon. The rock face was of a hard composition and relatively smooth as far as natural rock goes. In short, ideal for someone of Ranma's abilities. Briefly consulting her timer told her that she had five and a half hours left.

The closest congregation of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh seemed to be about ten kilometres eastward, and curious by nature as she was Ranma decided to investigate.

Five hours fifteen minutes later a thoroughly angry Ranma made her way towards the bottom of the canyon. **'I can't believe it, I can't fucking believe it! They have breeding camps all over the planet where they force their own females to squirt out hundreds of eggs per cycle! The hedged Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh are then aged at an accelerated pace, the males get the pertinent knowledge appropriate to their caste implanted and become warriors, the females breeders. Barbaric!'**

— _**It was fortunate that the breeding camps are interlinked on a world-wide scale as it showed us that the local situation is representative for the planet as a whole. I would say that our findings in the six settlements we infiltrated and the lack of a resistance or alternate positive factors in all of them make a diplomatic solution impossible,**_** — **Sym remarked matter of factly.

Ranma nodded sadly. **'You're right, Sym. It was the same in all settlements, warriors that are blindly loyal to their leaders on one hand and female breeders on the other, and I don't doubt it's the same on the rest of the planet. **

**'What the fucking dinos are doing is a desecration of life, freedom, anything! I almost feel bad for the females that we'll wipe them out too as they seem to be naught but breeding stock, but I don't see another option. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, and I just can't see anything redeeming in them that'd make me want to spare them. This is just like Saffron all over but the stakes are way higher. They're out of control and won't stop at anything to get what they want, and they have billions of warriors to accomplish their goals!'**

— _**Too true. My race are conquerors as well, but this is... despicable. You are right, there are no alternate options. Infiltrating the capitol on the Northern continent is out as well. Provided we had the time which we do not, even if we disposed of their leading caste they would just replace them and carry on, and we would be back at square one. **_

— _**Knowing what we do now it is safe to say that the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh will never stop as they have a constant and never ending influx of warriors to bolster their ranks, and extremely quickly to boot. They have to be put down. Permanently, — **_Sym said strongly.

**'Then it's decided. Screw diplomacy. We have four minutes to place 'big guy' and- What the fuck is this? How did **_**they**_** get here?'** Ranma yelled mentally, and her eyes almost bugged out at the sight of a hundred green-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, two T-Rex and one black-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh who had appeared a hundred metres southward seemingly out of nowhere.

"Brethren, warriors!" the leader exclaimed, his pose and demeanour pompous, "All our warriors have returned from our glorious mission, and it was a success beyond our wildest dreams! The sliding technology has rewarded us richly, and we have just begun to exploit the possibilities it grants us!"

Agreeing hissing reverberated through the canyon, and showing his sharp white teeth in a snarling grin the leader picked up where he'd left off. "Now we will destroy the world of these pitiful soft-skinned primates with this glorious culmination of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh technology!" he exclaimed and waved a clawed hand at their version of 'big guy', "Death to all non Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh!"

Approving hisses echoed through the canyon, and Sym sighed. _**— Expect the unexpected, as always. I assume they used some kind of transporter technology. Form as many arms as possible, retrieve an equivalent amount of weapons from subspace and eliminate the Supreme Commander and the T-Rexes, if possible in one fell swoop. Then use spikes, ki-blasts, vacuum blades, anything, to take out the rest, —**_ Sym said deadly serious.

**'Yeah, I've seen it as well, and I concur, we must hurry. This one's even bigger than our big guy,'** Ranma thought back. Then she grit her teeth, and did as Sym had suggested. Having already formed the arms she stealthily crawled along the rock face closest to the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh's position, and jumping down behind the leader - who was incidentally still facing his army, his timer already in hand - dropped her invisibility and twenty-five rifles, held by symbiote-formed arms and tendrils, unloaded their deadly beams all at once.

The personal shields of the leader and the T-Rexes' flared brightly prior to collapsing, and before the green-scaled Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh knew what was happening their new Supreme Commander and his pets collapsed to the ground, thoroughly dead from missing their heads.

Aided and abetted by the confusion amongst the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh ranks Ranma unloaded her full destructive potential into the masses. Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh fell to vacuum blades, ki-blasts, assorted long-range symbiote-formed weaponry, Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh beam weapons and even melee weapons in case of a few warriors that tried to chance their luck in close combat.

Two minutes later green blood stained the rocky ground and made it more than a tad slippery, but Ranma, back in basic combat mode, paid it no mind. She was used to this by now and more than a little desensitised. "That's that," she muttered and dusted herself off.

— _**Take their bomb with you. We do not know how it will react to the thrusters and cannot risk a premature explosion that would assuredly kill us. It will also give us another sample of their technology, —**_ Sym advised.

Ranma nodded and stored the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh bomb in her subspace pocket after she had retrieved the 'big guy' from storage. Hefting the heavy bomb to the ground she prepared everything, and once satisfied she sighed and breathed deeply. Steeling her resolve she pushed the button that engaged the thrusters. Regrets she had no time for, those could come later, had to come later.

She knew of the time delay that had been included with her abilities in mind all too well and jumped as high as possible, firing her webbing. She made it to the top of the canyon in seven seconds, and three seconds later a gigantic geyser of fire shot into the sky.

"Phase: Burrowing is a go," she muttered to herself and consulted her timer, "Five minutes till slide. It takes 'big guy' two minutes fifty to reach the core, so how to pass the time? Sym, you up for a game of-"

— _**You should not have said that, —**_ Sym sighed in reference to the spider sense going off.

Specs appeared in the distance on the horizon, and said specs quickly solidified into needle-like aircraft. Ranma palmed her face, formed as many arms and tendrils as possible, retrieved an equal amount of firearms and began to rake the incoming aircraft with rifle fire. Despite the fact that the aircraft were equipped with shield technology they fell quickly to the onslaught, but things got trickier when platoon after platoon of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh teleported in.

Ranma switched to melee combat and mowed down Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh after Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, but they kept on coming. Eventually a sub-commander managed to shoot her through the left shoulder, but his toothy grin died along with the rest of him when Ranma carried on as though nothing had happened and slashed him from head to crotch, the hole in her shoulder closing rapidly.

— _**Jump! 'Big guy' exploded one minute fifty-eight seconds ago, the effects will reach the surface any moment now! — **_Sym warned.

Ranma had already jumped as high as possible as soon as Sym had uttered the word 'jump', and aided and abetted by the fact that all Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh in a radius of two-hundred metres were dead she had been able to put all of her strength into the jump.

Suddenly a massive quake forced every enclosing Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh to their knees, and a gigantic sinkhole several kilometres deep swallowed Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh reinforcements consisting of several platoons of T-Rexes' and hundreds of Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh warriors whole. **'Serves them right,'** Ranma thought grimly just as her descent began.

— _**Two seconds! —**_ Sym urged.

A sad smile appeared on her face and Ranma whipped out her timer and pushed the button just when it had counted down to zero. Turning her head to the right one last time to see the devastation spreading not dissimilar to what a Hollywood movie would depict, complete with earthquakes stronger than they'd ever naturally occur, geysers of lava as far as her line of vision extended and kilometre deep sinkholes forming everywhere Ranma concentrated on the vortex hanging twenty metres above ground and positioned directly beneath her and let herself fall face-first into the tunnel, incidentally five seconds before the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld exploded from the very inside out.

-.-

Ranma Nicole Parker relished in the feelings the slide evoked in her, and a smile bloomed on her face as she subjected herself to the twists and turns. She almost groaned in disappointment when her ride came to an end, her feet slamming into solid ground.

Said solid ground turned out to be the cobbled pavement of the deserted courtyard in Antwerp, and a sigh escaped her lips. Sym formed appropriate street wear automatically, and Ranma burrowed herself into the white down coat. "Damn, am I glad this is over."

A smile grew on her face, and keying in the coordinates of the Baxter Building into the teleporter Ranma teleported back to base.

-.-

It was a decidedly odd scene Ranma teleported into. All seven of her friends had tense expressions on their faces and pretended to concentrate on some board game she didn't know. Feeling mischievous she asked, "This looks interesting. Mind if I join in?"

"Sure, Ranma-chan, take a-" Susan began until she realised what she had said, and her head whipped around. "Ranma-chan! You're back!" she exclaimed, jumped to her feet and hugged the living daylights out of the other female.

Reed was the only one who didn't join in on the hug fest that ensued, and he asked softly, "Was it as hard as I think it was?"

Ranma softly moved out of Valerie's embrace and sighed. "Worse. I can't shake the feel that I played God and will probably have nightmares for months to come, but it was either humanity, my dimension included, or them. And some of the things I saw reaffirmed my decision. They were evil to the core, and we, I, had to do it."

"Mmmmhh," hmmed Reed with a nod, "I figured you'd find more proof. All evidence suggested it. Well, then there's one test left, Ranma. Try to open a vortex to the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh homeworld."

Ranma shrugged but complied nonetheless and pressed the button. The vortex that normally appeared almost instantly did not form, and Ranma pressed the button again with the same result. "Okay, the coordinates did not change," she thought out loud, and an understanding look appeared on her face, "But something else did! The planet's gone, so we don't get a connection! That's what you wanted to check, eh? If it worked!"

Reed smiled and nodded. "Yes. This does indeed mean that their homeworld is naught but an expanding ring of rubble. And it is as you said, one only gets a connection if there's a habitable world on the other side. This does of course beg the question if us humans can only travel to parallel worlds that are compatible with our biological parameters, or-"

"Mom, you don't have a pillow on hand per chance, do you?" Valerie asked mock-sweetly.

"No, but I know where I can get several if your father doesn't stop theorising, dear," Susan retorted in the same tone of voice. "I could also get my hands on a few socks."

"Egad, it's always the same, no respect," Reed lamented with a mock-sigh.

"Dad, you should quit while you still can," Franklin stage-whispered, "One word: couch."

"Ouch," Reed muttered and nodded solemnly, "Thanks, son. Let's leave the uncomfortable couch to itself."

"That implies he'll be good, mom," Valerie said to her mother, her tone a bit doubtful, "What say you? Off the hook?"

Susan's expression was fake-sceptic, but she nodded convincingly. "In dubio pro reo. Besides, the couch _is_ drastic measures."

Ranma, who'd been holding her laughter in since the start of the verbal exchange dropped all pretence and collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles. When she was able to breathe again several minutes later seven amused faces smiled at her. "Thanks, guys. I needed that."

Susan grinned and mouthed, "Whatever for?" and Ranma grinned right back.

"The invasion is over, and the scaly assholes are beaten. Yeah!" Ben exclaimed with a huge grin, "I'd kiss ya, Ranma, but you'd probably grind me into paste."

Ranma held out her right cheek demonstratively. "Just this once," she said with a grin.

Ben didn't hesitate for a second and dropped a kiss worthy of any gentleman on the offered cheek before hugging her briefly. "Thanks for everything you've done for us. We're in your debt, and if there's ever anything you need, you know where to find us."

"Thanks, Ben. That... means a lot. Really," Ranma mumbled in a voice filled with emotion, "And you, Johnny, wipe the grin off your face," she said and initiated the change to male, "It's a handshake for ya."

"Oh pooh," Johnny sighed amongst the amicable laughter of his friends and family, but held out his right hand nonetheless.

Ranma gripped the hand and gave it a firm shake –by a normal human's standard – and grinned. "This way I can at least ensure that all parts of me will remain unmolested."

Johnny sighed and retracted his hand. "I ain't no gigolo. But regardless of that, Ben said it best. If ya need help you know where you can find it, any time."

"Thanks, Johnny. That means a lot," Ranma replied solemnly. "Well, I guess that means good bye, provided you found my home dimension."

"Hold your horses, younger me," the local Ranma spoke up, "Did you really think we'd let you go without thanking you properly? I may have been raised by _her_, but this version of her did a good job. Mostly.

"If you'd follow me to the lab, Reed and I have made good use of your absence, younger me," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Uh oh, Uncle Ranma in mad scientist mode," Valerie whispered, "I'd be careful if I were you.

"Looking good, by the way," she added and pinched his butt.

Before Ranma had time to react in any way or form Valerie had sashayed away, leaving the blond to shake his head. "Don't mind her teasing, but she has a point, you do look good as a male. If I were a few years younger and single... Gotcha!" Susan exclaimed in glee upon seeing the look on his face and followed her daughter at a leisure pace.

Ranma groaned. "What's this, pick on me day and I didn't get the memo?"

"Probably got lost in the mail," Franklin joked.

"Probably," Ranma retorted with a shake of his head and a smile.

"Come now," Reed said from his left, "You'll be very interested to see what we have in store for you."

Ranma shrugged and complied. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

-.-

Standing in front of the workbench Ranma waited for whatever his friends had come up with with an odd sort of detachment. **'Killing off an entire species for the 'greater good' sure makes one hard to shake,'** he thought grimly.

"Younger me," the older Ranma began from his roller, "What you did for us far exceeded what anyone could have asked. You agreed to help me without thought for personal gain, and you didn't even know what you were getting into.

"You almost died, may I remind you, d- i- e- d. Weren't it for your unique circumstances you would be dead, and I'd be beating myself up over it. Anyway, I'm trying to make a point here. You selflessly gave everything and expected nothing in return. That is something I have seldom encountered.

"Which is why we, Reed and I, with input from the others, decided to ease your load as much as possible. You are hunted for a crime you didn't commit in your dimension, your name tarnished, right?"

Ranma's up till then neutral expression darkened. "Yes. Even though they think Ranma Saotome is dead, yes."

"Isn't it convenient then that Reed and I developed a machine that can extract, store and replay memories a few years ago?" the local Ranma asked with a sly grin, and Ranma's brows rose at the implications, "It is also able to differ 'normal' from implanted memories. Nobody will be able to claim a memory is false. The machine proves and disproves everything."

"It has become standard in our courts," Reed added modestly from his own roller.

"And you-"

"We will give you the blueprints. Your Reed will know what to do," the local Ranma explained with a smile.

"I- thanks. That means a lot," Ranma said in a voice that conveyed how moved he was.

"If you think that was all you're mistaken, li'l bro," the older Ranma continued mischievously, "Our next invention is customised for your ability to change genders. I can imagine that one of your biggest fears is that someone could accidently watch you change genders. This is why we developed this baby here," he held up a tweezer and something very small, "This is a hypodermic chip grown from your own cells. It constantly and discreetly scans your gender and clothing, and should you forcibly change genders it projects a holographic image of what you last looked like before the change. The reaction time is incredible, and this charade will last until you change back."

Ranma gasped in realisation. "My finger!"

"Yes," the scientist Ranma agreed with a smile, "We put it to good use and destroyed it when we were finished. You will also have noticed that I said 'forcibly change'. Your body is prone to release stress hormones when something unexpected happens, and changing genders against your will is pretty much the epitome of unexpected. Well, the chip notices this and reacts only in these instances. Voluntary gender changes are excluded."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. This is great!" Ranma exclaimed, feeling happier than in long, "Older me, you nailed it. This is one of my worst fears exactly. What if someone watches me change? They'll likely scream bloody murder, call the police, the army or God knows what to have me carted off to a lab for experimentation. If I'm lucky."

"And what about sex?" Valerie asked without blushing and ignored the questioning looks she was getting, especially from her mother.

"What of it?" the older Ranma asked, although he already knew where she was coming from.

"Well, sex is an activity that involves stress and the release of related hormones. So, what would your chip do?" Valerie deadpanned, leaving the implications hanging.

"Good thinking, but nothing of the sort," Reed replied, "We were aware of this, and the chip can simply be willed into an offline mode should the user so desire."

"That's... good to know," Ranma muttered in relief.

"I should have known geniuses like you two wouldn't miss the obvious," Valerie mused with a smile. "But it never hurts to check if common sense was applied in the conception of a new invention."

"True enough, dear," Reed said with a fond smile, "Keep that intellect of yours as sharp as it is and you'll make an even better scientist than you're now, Professor Richards. And that's my professional opinion as a scientist, not as your father."

"I have another question," Franklin spoke up as his sister beamed, "How do you want to integrate the chip into his system? Considering his healing factor this would pose quite the problem."

"And another good question. Reed, do you mind?" the older Ranma asked.

Reed waved his hand in the negative. "Go ahead and tackle it."

"Right. It would pose a problem were the chip made of anything but Ranma's, or rather Ranma's cells. But seeing as that isn't the case his healing factor won't interfere," the local Ranma explained.

"Ingenious," Franklin acknowledged, "And just the solution I'd have chosen too."

"You will have to be female for the implantation, Ranma. The chip is based off your female DNA, and I don't want to risk compatibility problems," Reed explained matter of factly.

Ranma nodded and transformed into his female form in the blink of an eye, change of clothes included. "I'm ready."

The Ranma from this dimension nodded and produced an injector. "This is a two part injection. One will be applied to an arm of your choice, the other to the base of your neck. I'd suggest beginning with the arm."

Ranma mulled this over for a moment and held out her left arm, much to his counterpart's amusement. "Always the strategist, choosing your weaker arm. But who am I to judge?" he asked with a chuckle and depressed the injector.

The strawberry-blonde could feel that something was entering her body and her hair stood on end for a moment, but the feeling passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Susan swept her medical scanner over Ranma's body and looked satisfied. "I proclaim this a success. The chip has integrated properly and is working nominally as far as I can tell."

"Good," Reed exclaimed, grabbed a cup of warm water he had placed on the workbench in advance and threw the contents in Ranma's face.

The blonde sputtered for a moment and wiped the excess water from her face with a pout but remained outwardly female. "Was there no change or did the chip work?" Ben asked.

"Works as advertised," Ranma's female alto replied, "I did change, but the holo projection allowed me to change back quickly. Thanks, guys! This is so great!"

"Not half as great as what you did for us," Ranma's counterpart retorted solemnly to agreeing nods from his friends, "Now to the last injection. This one will ensure that the chip will never cease working. Are you ready?"

Ranma nodded, and a second later something was injected into the base of her neck. _**— Ranma! This is much more than the first chip! Wait, I have to properly integrate it into your brain, —**_ Sym exclaimed.

"What, brain?" Ranma shrieked in the external world.

"Ranma, what did you do?" Reed asked suspiciously, and the Saotome crossed his arms across his chest when Susan rounded in on him as well.

"I gave her what she deserves. My knowledge and skills, from zero up to now," the local Ranma explained and garnered awed looks, "I was certain the DNA-chip would work and encoded everything I know and can do into a larger version of our template. It is what he... she deserves. It was high time she got a break and had something good happen to her after all the bad my other self had to live through.

"The knowledge will trickle in bit by bit over time, just as her system will be able to handle it. This way I know she'll be able to make her way in her world," he finished softly.

"That was a good thing you did, uncle Ranma," Valerie said softly to the agreeing exclamations of the others.

"I hope she's of the same opinion once this is over, for the initial integration is gonna hurt," Ranma muttered with a sigh and braced himself for some serious hurt.

-.-

**'Damn, what did he do to me?'** Ranma thought and felt like she had an oncoming massive migraine, **'That's what I get for trusting myself, I mean him, that double of mine.'**

— _**Do not jump to conclusions and do not judge hastily, my host, — **_Sym said softly, _**— I can still perceive the outside world in contrast to you who are confined to your mind for the time being, so let me tell you that your double did something truly noble and great. He gave you all of his knowledge and skills. —**_

**'He did WHAT?'** Ranma demanded, **'Ain't my brain like, gonna explode or melt or something?'**

— _**Even if he had been so careless as to attempt to impart all of his knowledge and skills at once there would hardly have been ill effects as I would have filtered the data flow. As it is, you will gradually learn more and more until you have absorbed everything, — **_Sym explained and cautioned, _**— This is not as much of a freebie as you lazy bum would undoubtedly like. You will still have to practise new knowledge and skills for them to really stick. It still is a lot of effort, but an invaluable gift. —**_

**'This is so... cool! And just as I like it. My... bro gave me a gift, but it's up to me to make the most of it. Highschool's gonna be a breeze if and when I apply myself, and when I've worked myself up to a sufficient level I can major in Physics, just like Pete!'** she thought giddily, **'Hey, what's with the sudden pressure... NNNNNNGGGHH!'**

— _**That was the chip integrating where it was supposed to, — **_Sym commented and added cheekily, _**— Was not too bad now, was it? —**_

**'Rrrr, I refuse to answer,'** Ranma grumbled with the mental equivalent of a pout.

— _**Oh, you will be absolutely delighted to hear that this procedure has triggered- —**_

**'Let me guess, my cycle,'** Ranma said in a defeated tone.

— _**However did you guess that? —**_ Sym asked mockingly.

**'Because I was due anyway, it's par for the course and whatnot,'** Ranma grumbled back and willed herself back into the outside world.

Blinking a few times to get rid of the stars swimming in her vision Ranma fixated her eyes on the older Ranma. "You- You-"

"Say it. You're dead for fucking with my brain," the older Ranma sighed, and added, "Not a word, Johnny. That'd be too close to incest to even imagine."

"Hey, didn't say a word," Johnny protested, holding up his hands.

Ranma had meanwhile found the appropriate words. "You sly, ingenious asshole, you!" she exclaimed and tackled her double, dropping into his lap and hugging him like a sister would a brother. "Thank you for pulling off a stunt worthy of a Saotome."

"Uh, you're welcome," the local Ranma stuttered and sighed in relief when his younger and most decidedly female counterpart got up and off him, "Damn I was right, this is awkward!"

Everyone chuckled, but only Ranma caught the full meaning of the statement. And she was meanwhile woman enough to keep her mouth shut and smile serenely.

-.-

Two hours later Ranma was standing in the same-self alley she and her double had arrived in four weeks ago. The goodbyes had already been said, and the chip containing the blueprints for the memory device – and unbeknownst to Ranma a few other useful things – were safely stored away in her subspace pocket.

Speaking of which, she had remembered the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh bomb just in time, although Sue had looked a bit disgruntled at having a giant bomb standing in her living room. A smile appeared on her face and she waved at her friends. "Bye, all. I'll try to cross over when we have sliding technology of our own," she said and wiped away tears, "Now push the damn button, older me, before I kick your ass. It'll be all your fault if I go all mushy here!"

The older Ranma smiled mischievously. "Could I ever live with this guilt? Well, you know the answer. Good luck with sorting out your troubles, and ja ne," he said softly and pushed the button that'd open the vortex.

"Bye," and "Take care," was uttered by many a attendant, and waving one last time Ranma jumped into the red vortex.

"Who knows, maybe she'll be back much sooner than she thinks once they find the little present we left them," mused the local Ranma and stroked his chin.

"Who knows, old friend, who knows," Reed Richards mused sagely and watched with his friends and family as the portal closed and disappeared in on itself, "Anything is possible, if not here, then in another dimension."

-.-

Ranma subjected herself to the sensations of the slide once more and for what she knew to be the last time in long. All too soon her travel came to an end, and her feet slammed into familiar solid ground. Ranma sampled the air and listened to what her other senses told her, and she sighed in contentment. "Feels good to be back," she mused to herself, and her gaze incidentally wandered to a discarded newspaper lying on the ground.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she glimpsed the date. "September 25th, 1995? What the fuck! Oh no, I hope this isn't the wrong dimension!"

— _**This is worrisome indeed. I suggest you call the local Reed Richards, —**_ Sym suggested.

"Good idea," Ranma muttered and whipped out the old com device.

_"Reed Richards,"_ came from the other end of the line.

"Ranma here, listen-"

_"Ranma! Thank God! Where have you been?"_ Reed exclaimed excitedly.

"I know I was gone a bit longer than thought, but it took a month to help," Ranma said with a shrug Reed could of course not see.

_"A month? Listen Ranma, you were gone four months!"_

**to be continued**...

Thanks for reading. Hope this one satisfies and makes for a good wrap up of the Earth-526 arc. More to come whenever I find the time, have begun work on CR 13 and will work on BR 19 as well whenever the muse strikes.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services, my yahoo group for motivating me to write even in face of RL issues and to anyone else I'm assuredly forgetting. Kudos!

Changes in V.2.: decided to address the name issue. Ranma will only be referred to 'Randall' or 'Mara' when in public, otherwise it's plain old Ranma.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):  
**

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	19. Out of the frying pan into the fire

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 19: ****Out of the frying pan into the fire**

A soft wind whistled down the alley one Ranma, formerly of the Saotome Clan, interdimensional traveller and defeater of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh empire, was standing in. Her jaw was hanging agape, and she was certain that what she had just heard Reed Richards say had been a delusion produced by her stressed out mind.

"Come again, Reed, I coulda sworn you said I was gone four months," Ranma croaked almost tonelessly.

_"That's because I did say it,"_ Reed retorted in a tone that was anything but joking, _"Listen, we-"_

"Should meet up at headquarters urgently," Ranma cut in, and switched to Scarlet Widow configuration after scanning the surroundings for passersby that might stumble upon her and finding none.

_"I was about to say that, yes,"_ Reed commented a touch exasperatedly.

"Right. See ya in a bit, Reed," Ranma replied almost absently and terminated the connection without waiting for a reply. Her head still swimming she jumped twenty-five metres upward, fired her webbing and was off toward Four Freedoms Plaza like a shot.

**'Four months! I was gone four fucking months!'** Ranma exclaimed mentally and shook her head in disbelief, **'I can't fucking believe it!'**

— _**What **_**I**_** cannot believe is that I was so blind. The facts were all there. Your double being thirty-four, that it was the year 2010 in their dimension and so on. Time is passing faster in the other dimension, and one month there roughly equals four months here, — **_Sym concluded gravely.

**'Fuck! I don't wanna bloody believe it, but I think you're right,'** Ranma thought back, **'Unless... They're playing a really bad prank on us.'**

— _**Based on previous observations I do not give this more than a zero point one percent probability, — **_Sym commented.

**'You're right. Reed's way too stuffy to play a prank. Especially when it pertains to something so serious like missing out on four months, three months if we don't count the month spent in the other dimension that we'd have missed out on anyway,'** Ranma mused and sighed, **'Damn, so much might have happened in the time I was away. Hope 'licia's okay.'**

— _**It is not prudent to worry about things you cannot change. As these events are in the past you can most definitely not change them. Talk to Reed and the others, get the pertinent facts and draw your conclusions from there, — **_Sym advised in a tone that brooked no argument.

**'You're right, Sym,'** Ranma sighed, **'But being human I can't stop worrying. Thanks for trying to set me straight.'**

Further conversation was pre-empted by the need to concentrate on Ranma's part when they swung into 42nd Street and Madison Ave, the Four Freedoms Plaza coming into view shortly thereafter. Ranma entered the building without further ado and rode straight to the 71st floor, and hurried straight into the lab after meeting and greeting Roberta.

"She's the genuine article," Ranma heard the voice of Reed say to a person she couldn't see but feel. Susan. And Ben and Johnny were there as well. The only one missing was Felicia.

Her face drooping a bit she reformed her Scarlet Widow attire into faded blue jeans and a black tank top and pasted a neutral expression on her face. As soon as the Fantastic Four came into view a tired smile appeared on her face and she waved at them in greeting. "I'd say sorry I'm late, but that doesn't seem to cut it," she said mirthlessly.

"Where the hell have ya been, sis?" Ben Grimm exclaimed, and added, "Well, don't matter, you're back and looking good."

Ranma was about to say thanks but was cut off by Reed. "I fear it does matter, Ben. At least to one Felicia Hardy, and even though Ranma doesn't owe us an explanation I, whom I consider myself a friend, would like to get full disclosure as well, Ranma."

"Well said, dear," Susan agreed, but she kept her face neutral.

"Hell yeah," Johnny had muttered at the same time.

Ranma sighed deeply. "It began harmlessly enough when a double of me from another dimension appeared in that alley where the Sinister Eight had ambushed me. That much you'll all know 'cause I left that tid bit of info on your answering machine.

"We slid to the older Ranma Saotome's world, and from there on out everything seemed to spiral out of control," she had just said when a tingle at her senses told her that a certain someone was fast approaching, "Damn, I don't know if I should be happy or if I should run and hide," she muttered softly.

"I'd advise the former, but it's already too late for the latter," Reed commented dryly.

"Where is he?" a loud female voice yelled, "Where's the god damned son of a bitch?"

"Can't argue with the SOB part, but damn, that sounds like it's gonna hurt," Ranma mumbled with grit teeth.

"Dude looks like a lady and the lady's here," Johnny supplied helpfully and idly played around with a fireball, shrugging off Ranma's glare easily.

It didn't take five seconds for a black and silver blur to enter the lab, and her hands planted on her hips Felicia Hardy bellowed, "You bitch! What possessed you to leave me for four bloody months?"

Ranma had shrunk in on herself and sighed. "Will you at least listen to my story before beating me up and ending our relationship?" she asked fatalistically.

A look of confusion flitted across Felicia's face before giving way to a neutral mask. "I do not intent to end our relationship provided you didn't do anything to merit such a grave action. As for your punishment, that depends thereupon if I like your explanation, but it will not consist of physical violence of any kind. I am not one of those nutsoid Nerima girls," she said levelly.

Ranma did her best not to erupt into an unholy jig and limited herself to a relieved smile. "Okay. But seeing as it's quite the long story, would it be asking too much to adjourn to the living room?"

The Fantastic Four and Felicia exchanged glances and shook their heads. "A lot has happened here as well, and some of it pertains to you," Reed said in a level voice that instantly piqued Ranma's interest, "So it'd be a logical course of action to get comfortable."

"Some of it my ass," Felicia muttered with a shake of her head.

"And what a cute ass it is," Ranma mumbled before she could stop herself.

Felicia regarded her lover and her gaze tuned smoky. "Flattery will get you everywhere, dear," she said and batted her lashes before turning unceremoniously serious, "But there's a time and place for everything. And we need to get down to business first."

"Tease," Ranma muttered barely audibly and grumbled cutely much to the amusement of Felicia and the Fantastic Four.

Reed clapped his hands. "Let's."

-.-

Half an hour later a shocked and amazed quintet couldn't believe what they had just heard. Ranma had given them full disclosure on what had happened in the month she had spent in the other dimension, and she had requested that questions be asked after she had finished. Now that she had she was not surprised when a veritable crossfire of questions rained down on her.

The only one not joining in was Reed Richards, and with a sigh the genius scientist inflated his torso. "Stop!" he bellowed, eliciting the desired effect. "Good. Now that order has been reestablished I suggest we leave the initial questioning to Miss Hardy seeing as she is closest to Miss Parker."

"Thanks. But I thought I'd told you to call me Felicia, Reed," Felicia reminded the leader of the Fantastic Four.

"And me Ranma. All this formality is neither wanted nor needed amongst friends, Reed," Ranma added with a smile.

"Sorry, force of habit," Reed replied with a smile and waved his hand, leaning back into the black two-piece couch he was sitting on with his wife, "Now, Felicia, if you'd be so kind as to begin."

Felicia turned her head towards her lover who was sitting just a few centimetres away on another black two-piece couch they were sharing and opened her mouth. "Those Zzz- dinos shot you and you almost d- died?" she asked in a quivering voice.

Ranma sighed and felt like a cad for causing Felicia emotional pain. "That second platoon managed to surprise me. As said, their weapons cause... caused radiation poisoning of the worst kind. Weren't it for the procedure I underwent and Sym... Yes, I'd be dead. I'd even got my double to promise me he'd tell you of my demise in case I wouldn't make it.

"Sorry, I didn't want to cause you pain, but we all know about the risks involved when we don our costumes, dear. I had decided to help my double fight the dinos, and hadn't I done it...six **billion** people would now be dead."

Felicia, who had been lost in her thoughts imagining how much it would have hurt to lose Ranma, felt her eyes go wide in shock. It was a reaction mirrored by everyone in the room.

"Six billion people?" Ben croaked from his Thing-sized armchair, incredulity plainly audible in his voice.

"You did say that the dinos wanted to nuke your double's world, but that..." Johnny trailed off, disbelief written on his face.

"They had the bomb ready," Ranma said, her blue eyes seeming darker than usual, "One slide is all it'd have taken and the other Earth wouldn't be more than an expanding asteroid belt now. A cold mass grave for six billion people."

"My God," Felicia breathed and slumped into the cushions.

"Ya can say that again," rumbled Ben and shook his head, "Sounds like good riddance and a job well done, Ranma."

"I agree. Sounds like pest control to me," Johnny agreed and shook his head, "Blowing up a planet just because you didn't get what you wanted... Unbelievable."

"Thanks, guys," Ranma said with a grateful nod of her head.

"Gauging from the description you gave of the Zzzcc'hh'kkkrrsshh, Ranma, it is safe to assume that your double's world wouldn't have been the last to suffer such a fate," Reed mused gravely.

"You betcha, Reed. The Supreme Commander of their military forces, well the new one since I killed the first one, said something to that effect," Ranma replied in a tone as grave, "They wouldn't have stopped, they'd have carried on and on until they'd have become powerful enough to pose a threat to anyone. And that's why I won't lose too much sleep over wiping them out. It was us and countless other parallel dimensions or them.

"That they almost killed me put them pretty high on my shit list anyway, but when I saw how cold-blooded they literally were, how evil, they ceased being people and became animals. Animals that were the enemy. To paraphrase something an acquaintance used to say, enemy is for killing. And that's what I did last month."

Ranma had just finished saying 'month' when she felt herself being enveloped in a soft and caring hug. Felicia buried her head in her lover's shoulder and seemed to hold on for dear life. "I just can't believe how you keep getting tangled up in situations like these," she said softly and kissed Ranma's neck, "But you can bet your cute little ass I won't let you out of my sight for the next few days. I have a great deal of... frustrations that have accumulated."

"I hate to play the party pooper, but it seems a few details have slipped your mind, Felicia," Susan spoke up before Ranma could react in any way or form, "One word: Japan."

Felicia's mouth formed a big o, and understanding appeared in her eyes. "My hormones got the better of me, but is that a surprise with my hot li'l Red?" she mumbled, not sounding the least bit sorry.

"Ugh, that's so sweet I wanna puke," Johnny mock-complained.

"That's just 'cause you ain't got a romantic bone in your body, flamehead," Felicia shot back and just pulled an unresisting Ranma into her lap and encircled her waist from behind, "Anyway, a lot happened over here as well, or rather in Japan. Master Happosai and I roughed up Nerima ward pretty good."

Ranma chuckled lightly. "That I can imagine."

Felicia grinned unrepentantly. "I fought and beat the new heir to the Anything Goes, Ryoga Hibiki-"

"They made Ryoga the heir!" Ranma exclaimed in incredulity.

Felicia scoffed. "Soun Tendo did. Your father, he didn't care. He told me everything had turned into a farce – as far as he was concerned – after your 'death', and he resigned himself to practising the Art and letting 'the idiots make decisions they'd regret sooner rather than later'.

"Anyway, I wiped the floor with the 'future of the Anything Goes' and went so far as to break Ryoga's jaw when he used that Shi Shi Hokodan attack you told me about. Fighting dirty is one thing, endangering innocent bystanders is another and a no go."

Ranma's expression had progressively darkened throughout her lover's explanation. "Pig boy still hasn't learned," she scoffed and shook her head, "Well, no wonder with jellyfish Soun as his 'teacher'."

"Yeah, he made a real good impression on me, Soun did," Felicia said sarcastically, "Anyway, one thing led to another, and we got the merry Tendo band to confess that you were innocent and that Kodachi Kuno was the perpetrator. Then-"

"What?" Ranma practically yelled and turned around in Felicia's lap and searched her eyes, "Please tell me you're not joking!"

"I'd never joke about something as important as that- Mmmmmph!" Felicia's explanation was spontaneously cut short by Ranma planting a kiss on her lips into which she quickly melted. It'd probably have carried on further – and even though the Fantastic Four found it cute – Reed and Susan cleared their throats, prompting the lovers to separate, albeit very reluctantly. Ranma leant back into her girlfriend and snuggled up to her with a big grin on her face, and Felicia's hands encircled her lover's waist anew.

"We'd gladly give you two a room, but there's still a lot Ranma has to learn," Reed said in a very serious tone, "If you would conclude your summary of the happenings in Japan, Felicia."

"Alright, alright," Felicia grumbled with a pout, "A small mob formed after the revelation that Kodachi Kuno was behind everything, even including Soun who wanted to save face," here Ranma scoffed and she could feel her lover nod, "and we stormed the Kuno mansion. We quickly dismantled the traps, but Sasuke had already warned Kodachi that we were coming for her.

"The bitch tried to commit suicide by ingesting poison and almost died, but we learned later that the potion had given her control over plants. Talk about fuckin' dipshit," she grumbled and nodded in agreement when Ranma cursed excessively, "She used her new powers to escape, taking Sasuke with her, and we haven't heard from her since."

"Fuck, the bitch can't even die properly," Ranma swore contemptuously.

"That's the same thing your father said, hon," Felicia commented and stroked her girlfriend's hair.

"It's highly probable that Kodachi Kuno is still somewhere in New York," Reed added, "Sasuke learned of your new identity and your location, and as obsessed as she is with you it's safe to assume that she'll come calling."

Ranma's face had darkened more and more throughout Reed's explanation. Sym coated her hands and two long katanas formed. "I certainly hope so," she whispered dangerously and made a criss-crossing motion with her hands as if beheading someone, "I want her head, on a silver plate."

"Until we get to that we'll have to content ourselves with a little something that the High Court of Japan ruled, dear," Felicia said with a smile in her voice, "You had, or have as it is, a lot of friends in the police forces of Nerima, including the higher ups. They, Happosai and your father worked their asses off to present as strong a case as possible and went to court. They even went so far as to force Nabiki Tendo to give up all the evidence she had. I'll tell you more about her later, by the way. You'll like what the old perv did to her."

"It was harsh punishment, but considering the circumstances, appropriate," Reed commented levelly.

"Hell yeah. I don't even know her, but from what I heard she had it coming, and more," Johnny exclaimed.

"Amen to that, flamehead," Ben agreed with a nod, "She got what she deserved, but I'm with the match here, she deserves a lot more."

Susan nodded. "I won't argue with that. The sad thing is, she probably hasn't learned a thing from what's happened and will quickly fall back into her old behavioural patterns."

"Don't worry, Sue, we aren't through with her, or them, not by a long shot. We have only just begun," Felicia assured with a grin that was nothing short of mean, "Master Happosai and I came to the same conclusions and have worked out a few scenarios. And now that my hon's back we can plan properly."

"You know what, you're all a bunch of teases!" Ranma exclaimed and pouted, "You're all being deliberately vague, and it's frustrating!"

"Oh! So you're... frustrated as well," Felicia said sensually and placed her left hand on Ranma's left inner thigh, squeezing lightly, "I think we'll have no choice but to take care of our mutual frustrations later."

Ranma had to delve deep into the soul of ice to keep a level head and herself from jumping her lover's bones, but before she could form a retort Susan spoke up. "Felicia, mind... gutter... out... now!"

"Aww, you're no fun!" Felicia pouted, eliciting a level glare from Susan and amused looks on the parts of the male members of the Fantastic Four, "But alright. Seeing as we're all already frustrated,"

"Ahem," interrupted Susan with a pointed look.

"- it can't hurt ya too much if I tell you all about Nabiki and the existing plans later, ne, hon?" Felicia continued like Susan had never interrupted.

Ranma grumbled but her face showed that she'd relented. "I could make you tell me, but I'd rather know what the court ruled."

"Ohh, the court!" Felicia exclaimed like she'd forgotten all about it, a glint entering her eyes, "I was there, of course. Master Happosai had hired the best lawyer in all of Tokyo, one Hashizawa Akira, and it didn't take him an hour to convince the court that you, an upstanding pillar of the community, had been framed by a stinking rich, crazy girl with far too much influence and connections for her own good.

"The recordings, the testimonies given by the Tendos, Daisuke, Hiroshi, many others of your peers and one Tatewaki Kuno in particular convinced the court that a great injustice had been wrought. That was a week ago, by the way. Made the news here as well. Full coverage in all the major papers."

"Kuno? Tatewaki bokken for brains Kuno was coherent enough to give testimony and be taken seriously?" Ranma asked in absolute incredulity.

"Ohh yes. Turns out his disturbed state of mind stemmed from all the drugs and poisons his sister had been using on him. Once all that stuff was purged from his system he became... normal," Felicia explained casually and paused for a bit, giving her astonished girlfriend time to process the information.

"So it's all Kodachi's fault! And always has been!" Ranma exclaimed heatedly.

"That's what the docs assume, yeah. From there on out your case became a matter for the embassy, and what with the evidence we could bring forward it was easy to convince the ambassador to exert political pressure on the Americans.

"Not that it took much, really. I think our, the American ambassador, that is, didn't much like that the American jurisdiction had been used like that, and a new trial has been scheduled in three and a half months time to exonerate you posthumously," the Black Cat concluded visibly satisfied.

"I can't believe it, I can't fucking believe it," Ranma said softly in a tone saturated with disbelief, then her eyes gleamed with barely suppressed hope, "This is... good. I'm kinda jaded when it comes to juridical systems, so sorry if I can't show any real happiness. I don't trust my luck an inch, not until my name's cleared and I'm free."

"Oh honey," Felicia sighed softly and planted a soft kiss on the right side of her neck.

"She's right to be sceptic," Reed spoke up, "There's a number of things that can still go wrong, so it'd be foolhardy to think this is a sure-fire success."

"This time around things are gonna go differently, 'cause she's got us on her side, Stretch," Ben spoke up and punched the palm of his left hand.

"Right. We should also get Matt Murdock and Jen Walters aka She-Hulk on board," Johnny added his two cents, "They're two of the best lawyers out there."

Ranma's brows inched upwards in scepticism, and Susan cleared her throat. "You can trust them, even with your full story. They would never tell a soul, for you'll hardly find two people so full of integrity anywhere."

"It's true, sis," Ben spoke up, his voice filled with conviction, "Matt's working over at Hell's kitchen, and he's fought for justice tirelessly for years. She-Hulk's got the same innate sense of justice, and once they're convinced of your innocence they'll work to prove it till they drop."

"Much as it pains me to agree with Rocky over here-"

"Rocky? I'll give ya Rocky!" Ben exclaimed heatedly and made to jump to his feet.

Quiet giggling coming from Ranma stopped the imminent brawl, and four sets of eyes turned to regard the gender-cursed symbiote host. "Don't stop on my account, it's just that it's so funny! The other Ben and Johnny used to squabble all the time too."

Reed smiled amusedly. "Some children grow up, some don't," he mused sagely, and added, "What was it that you wanted to say, Johnny?"

"Ben's right. Matt and Jen are the best, you can trust them," Johnny said in an unusually serious tone.

Ranma nodded slowly. "I value and trust your opinions, but please don't take offense that I want to get an idea of them myself."

"None taken," said Susan with a smile to agreeing nods from her team mates.

"You'll have to do something you may dislike, hon," Felicia spoke up softly and let her right hand wander over Ranma's side from shoulder to rear, "You'll have to become Ranma again."

"At least for the duration of the trial," Reed amended quickly at seeing Ranma's face darken severely.

"I know. Bloody hell, I know," Ranma hissed in a voice barely above a whisper, prompting Felicia to hug her from behind and pull her close, "And I do not hate it. Ranma reminds me of everything I lost, every betrayal, every hardship, yes, but it's who I am."

"So, Ranma, what did my other self give you?" Reed asked in a subtle attempt to steer the conversation away from the highly emotional previous topic, "If I know myself I'd have given you something to make your life easier as a reward."

A sly smile played on Ranma's face. "You know yourself pretty well, Reed. But there's a little something I left out in my story."

"The rewards. We had noticed," Johnny said casually.

The smile on Ranma's face grew. "The other Reed did something nice for me. Well, he and my other self. But it was the other Ranma who outdid himself. First he implanted a chip that ensures that I'll never be caught flat-footed by an accidental gender change ever again."

"Sorry to interrupt, but how does that mesh with your healing factor?" Susan wanted to know.

"Good question, Sue," Ranma said with a nod, "They used a," she scrunched up her face in thought, "hypodermic chip grown from my own cells."

"Ingenious," Reed mused and stroked his chin, "Due to the fact that your own cells were used there was no chance of a defensive reaction."

"Yep," Ranma agreed with a nod, "They designed the chip specifically for me. It scans my body at all times, determining gender and the clothes I'm wearing, and should a gender change be induced that I don't want to happen it projects a holographic image of what I last looked before the change, allowing me to quickly change back. It's so cool, but as of now I'm unable to demonstrate it due to female only biological reasons."

Susan, Felicia and Reed caught onto the meaning instantly while Ben and Johnny took a few seconds longer before looks of understanding appeared on their faces. "That's great, hon!" Felicia exclaimed and kissed the left side of Ranma's neck enthusiastically, "That's one of your biggest fears alleviated!"

Ranma visibly enjoyed Felicia's ministrations and would probably have purred hadn't the others been present. "You can say that again, dear," she said with a grin that was reflected in her voice, "But that's almost nothing on what that ass of a double of mine then did. He'd convinced everyone that it was a two part procedure with the first step being the implantation of the chip and the second the implantation of a chip that'd ensure the first chip would never stop working."

"And?" Felicia asked in a dangerous tone.

"No need to skin my double alive, not that you could anyway for lack of sliding technology on our part," Ranma retorted with a chuckle, "Well, he did ensure that the chip will never stop working, 'cause in a few years, at least in my estimation, I'll be able to repair the chip myself."

Astounded exclamations echoed through the room at this statement, but Felicia's shout of "What?" was the loudest by far.

"Don't get me wrong, hon, but technology and you don't mesh too well," Felicia hurried to add.

A wry grin played on Ranma's face. "That woulda been true till yesterday, 'cause that second chip... It gave me all the knowledge and skill of my double!"

-.-

One would have been able to hear a pin drop in the absolute silence that reigned in the living room of the Fantastic Four. This silence, perpetrated by one Ranma Parker, was broken by the soft voice of Reed Richards whose incredible intellect had processed the information the quickest. "Fascinating. The skill level necessary to produce such a marvel, not to mention the level of technology involved far exceeds what even I'm currently capable of producing. Am I correct to assume that our doubles installed safeguards such as that the contents of the chip will integrate over time?"

Ranma couldn't help but smile, her facial expression communicating how impressed she was. "You got that right, Reed. It's probably what you'd have done too, eh?"

Reed shrugged modestly. "It's logical. And I'm glad that you'll be able to catch up to where you could have been provided the right training."

"What do you mean by that, stretch? She gonna turn into a super genius like you now, or what?" Ben inquired and added in a mutter, "Like one ain't enough already."

Reed ignored the last part and made a serious face. "Ranma gained a chip filled to the brim with knowledge and skills of her double, that much is true. Given that her double is my other self's protégé it's safe to assume that he's operating at genius level. So yes, provided Ranma puts an effort into learning all the chip has to offer she'll most likely reach a level comparable to her double's over time.

"But let me stress one thing, this is no self runner, Ranma. You'll gain the information bit by bit, but you'll have to 'relearn', meaning practising with what you learn so that it settles in a way that's useful to you."

"I see," Ranma replied with an understanding nod, her expression brightening, "Thanks for the heads up, Reed!"

"And he gained all that from a cursory examination," Felicia said in awe.

Johnny shrugged and juggled a fireball. "That's Reed for ya. You get used to it after some time."

"Yeah, he usually saves a galaxy here and a dimension there before breakfast without trying," Ben added teasingly.

"Moving right along, is there anything of particular interest you brought with you aside from what you showed us?" Reed asked curiously.

Susan, who'd been listening quietly while sipping her coffee, smiled. "`Aside from what you showed us´, dear? Isn't that enough already?" she asked amusedly.

"As a matter of fact," Ranma mused and retrieved the chip the other Reed and Ranma had given her, a grin playing on her face, "They included something very useful. But see for yourself. Here."

Reed stretched his right arm and accepted the chip with a pondering expression and turned to examining the chip as soon as he'd retracted his arm. "It's refreshing to see that my other self is operating with forethought in mind as well," he mused and looked up, "My double toned down the level of technological development to make the chip compatible with what I'm using. Sue, may I-"

"Not before we've told her what happened to Peter in these four months," Susan retorted sternly.

"Maybe he can tell me himself," Ranma said absently, "'cause he and MJ ain't not a kilometre away. They're webslinging, by the feel of things."

"Good, we'll wait," Felicia decided and garnered agreeing nods from their friends, "But suffice to say, Peter went through a lot of shit. And I'm glad that we all," she waved her right hand at the Fantastic Four and herself, "have become even better friends since you entered our lives. Otherwise he'd probably be a depressed wreck."

Ranma sucked in a breath. "That bad?"

"Worse," Felicia replied gravely and elicited agreeing nods yet again, "But it's Pete's story to tell."

"It's gotta be tease Ranma day, I just know it. But have it your way," Ranma grumbled and relaxed into the cushions, "Say, didn't someone mention there's more coffee and cookies?" she asked cheekily.

Susan smiled and looked at her brother. "Johnny, be a dear and fetch the lady her precious."

Johnny looked up and shrugged. "Sure. Coffee 'n' cookies sounds good ta me."

"Let's just hope there's still some left by the time he comes back," Ben grumbled good-naturedly.

"I heardcha, rock-head. And just for that I'm gonna eat all the strawberry cream filled cookies you like so much," Johnny retorted cheekily and stuck out his tongue before walking towards the kitchen.

"What comes around goes around, Johnny, don't ever forget that," Ben called after his teammate, but Johnny just retorted, "Yadda yadda."

"I swear you two will never grow up," Susan muttered softly with a shake of her head, her cup held in her right hand.

"It's just some friendly bantering to keep our resident hothead on his toes, Sue," Ben replied calmly, "Besides, someone's gotta make sure our Johnny behaves."

"You're right, Sue, those two _will_ never grow up. The older doubles of them were just as bad, if not more so," Ranma whispered conspiratorially.

"Oi! You just wait till our next spar, missy!" Ben rumbled in a mock-hurt voice.

Ranma grinned unrepentantly and transformed her right hand into a large, spiky mace. "Hope ya gonna back up your bluster, ya walking clinker factory," she retorted teasingly.

Ben was ready to retort, but Reed speaking up stopped him cold. "You two can spar later, verbally and physically. Peter and his wife are about to enter the building."

No sooner had Reed said this than the sound of someone knocking against the window could be heard. The scientist amongst the Fantastic Four pulled out a remote control and pressed a button, making the window seemingly disappear. "Come right in," Mr Fantastic remarked to Peter who was clad in his usual Spider-Man garb and the woman dressed in an all black costume clinging to his back.

"Thanks, Reed," Spider-Man replied, "I just gotta dissolve the webbing so that MJ's gonna have solid ground beneath her feet again."

"No need to hurry on my account, tiger," Mary Jane commented almost lazily, "This is comfy, and I think the baby liked it too. Hi all!"

The greeting was all too enthusiastically returned, and Susan giggled. "I can imagine, MJ! There was this one time when I was pregnant with Franklin-"

"Suuusan, this is no time for old stories," Reed interrupted meaningfully but wilted a bit under Susan's glare, "There's a time and a place for everything, but right now Ranma should learn what happened to Peter and vice versa."

"It's okay, Sue, we can talk later," Mary Jane said reassuringly when the only female of the Fantastic Four kept up her glare, "Besides, I really should get down or you'll have a wet spot on the ground!"

Peter nodded empathically and dissolved the webbing. "Yeah, she running to the loo like every ten minutes, but I suppose it can't be helped," he said, adding the last part when his danger sense warned him of the intensifying glare that was levelled at him, and clapping his hands in a diversionary manoeuvre he mused, "I really want to learn what happened to Ranma. Hey," he added, waving in Ranma's direction, the redhead waving back.

"You managed to turn the corner at the last second, tiger. Be right back!" Mary Jane exclaimed and rushed off to use the facilities.

"Hey Pete, how's it hanging?" Ranma greeted with a grin after having watched Mary Jane disappear in a dust cloud.

"You seriously don't wanna know," Peter complained and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Huh. Can't be any crazier than my story. Then again, your life's as much of a soap opera as mine," she mused thoughtfully with Peter nodding darkly in apparent agreement, "Oh, and Ben, postponed ain't abandoned," she added with a meaningful grin and popped her knuckles.

"Whatcha said, blondie," Ben rumbled back, "This old 'clinker factory' is gonna show you who's the boss."

"I'll let this comment slide this once," Ranma retorted with great dignity, "'cause I really wanna know what MJs doing dressed up like that!"

-.-

A few minutes and a heartfelt reunion later found the Parkers and Ranma as well as Felicia in the living room of the Four Freedom Plaza. The four members of the most well known super-hero team had excused themselves citing they had a team training session scheduled, but everyone knew it to be naught but an excuse so as to allow the couples privacy. Something for which both the Parkers as well as Ranma and Felicia were grateful for.

The blinds had been closed and both Peter and Mary Jane had exchanged their costumes for normal clothes with Peter promising that he would elaborate on the why as soon as Ranma had told her tale. Said redhead had resigned herself to telling her tale yet again, and she began to do so once refreshments had been provided, once again delved into her story which she relayed in its entirety.

Peter and Mary Jane were amazed and intrigued by their friend's tale and bombarded her with a veritable boatload of questions after the redhead had finished. The dimensionally travelled teen bore them in good will and answered their questions to the best of her abilities, but she was very pleased that they were as acceptant of her, what she had done and what had happened to her as the others. That Peter had offered to tutor her in Physics to see if they could unlock stowed away knowledge bit by bit was a blast as well.

Then it was Peter's turn at story-telling, and it was plain to see from the darkening of the Parker male's face that his experiences as of the last four months were far from pleasant. "So much has happened in the time you were gone," he began almost absently only for his gaze to sharpen, "We were right, you know. There was and is something looming on the horizon, and I've glimpsed at more and more pieces of the puzzle. It all began when Aunt May had a stroke-"

"Aunt May had what!" Ranma interrupted in a shout, worry and surprise in her voice and clearly visible in her face as she gripped the edge of the sofa tightly.

"She died according to the doctors, but she has almost fully recovered, much to our eternal relief," Mary Jane assured in a soft voice.

"Thank Kami-sama," Ranma breathed and inwardly felt like a heel that she hadn't been there for one of the few people that had been kind to her.

"This incident brought someone out of the woodwork, and that someone was none other than my clone!" Peter exclaimed.

"Your clone? I see. Rumours of his demise were exaggerated, then," Ranma returned dryly and cocked her head when Peter chuckled, "What happened then?"

Peter sighed. "We battled it out, cleared the air over an all-out brawl in Ravencroft and became akin to brothers. He calls himself Ben Reilly-"

"After your Uncle, then?" Ranma interrupted.

"Yes, and after relatives on Aunt May's side. It's his way to honour Uncle Ben's memory and the upbringing he and Aunt May gave us, well, me," Peter agreed with a nod, "He donned a costume because of which he was dubbed the 'Scarlet Spider'-"

"Heh, maybe we could team up some time," Ranma cut in jokingly.

"I'd want to have him by my side any time," Peter said seriously, "But I'll get to the why. Ben made quite the name for himself, let me tell you. His first fight was against none other than Venom, and he held his own remarkably well. He fought other villains like Tombstone and others of my old 'acquaintances', but it was another who had an even larger impact on my rogues' gallery.

"A man named Kaine turned up. To cut right to the chase, we found out that Kaine was none other than my very first failed clone."

"He shares many of Pete's traits, but he's also like a... flawed copy," Mary Jane spoke up quietly, "Like a distorted mirror image. He abducted me, and weren't it for Peter and Ben... I'm almost certain Kaine wouldn't have harmed a hair on my head, but I'm not certain I want to know how things would've played out."

Ranma absorbed what her friends had said and frowned. "You said failed copy. In which way?"

Peter sighed and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "His cellular and genetic matrix aren't stable. He's degenerating. As for the effects upon him, it grants him greater powers than Ben or I have, but it seems to be evident that it also has adverse effects on his mind. Kaine is a lot more uninhibited and unscrupulous, and he has become what I've sworn to myself I'd never become, a killer.

"We know that he has killed Kraven's son Grim Hunter, he also killed Doc Ock-"

"What?" Ranma exclaimed hotly, "I had dibs on the tentacled menace!"

"Uh, you know that didn't sound that sane, right?" Mary Jane said tentatively.

Ranma's gaze remained hard. "MJ, I'd sworn to myself that I'd off Ock the next chance I'd get for what he's done. That asshat's too dangerous to be left alive, and Kaine, dangerous and loony as he sounds, did us a favour. Look, we could discuss my philosophy for days on end and it wouldn't change a thing. My outlook on life is what enabled me to destroy the dino empire, so let's just agree to disagree."

"That's not necessary as I understand it just fine, Ranma," Mary Jane replied to the surprise of many, "Pete and I discussed it at large, and even the boyscout that is my husband-"

"Hey!" Peter cut in indignantly.

"- understands the necessity that there are some villains out there that are too dangerous to be thrown into jail," Mary Jane concluded seamlessly, "Pete won't become a killer when he's forced to put down a villain permanently, he's just a man doing a service to society."

"Hear, hear," Ranma mused and nodded impressed, "You and I know that the sheeple will disagree, but that's neither here nor there."

"True," Peter conceded and grimaced, "I could still beat myself up over allowing Warren to be put behind bars. How I-"

"Stop, stop, stop. Rewind. You had Warren? And allowed him to be apprehended by the authorities? Why in Kami-sama's name?" Ranma asked incredulously, anger mixing into her voice.

"In my defence, it was Ben who let Warren be taken to Ravencroft Asylum as he hoped they would get more information out of him. I was preoccupied with... other problems," Peter said softly.

Ranma picked up on the emotional undertone of pain even in her agitated state which served to calm her down. "Spill."

Peter sighed deeply. "I have no idea why, but I began having dreams of being the clone instead of Ben. It was becoming an issue as it drove me batty. The uncertainty. The questions. Was my life a lie? My memories fabrications? My existence limited as I was naught but a copy of the real deal? It was... unsettling.

"And then... Ben and I found the Jackal's lair, and that was where we met him the first time in ages. He, Warren, told Ben that he was the real one, that the High Evolutionary had lied back then. It crushed me."

"Shoot. I can imagine," Ranma muttered softly and motioned for Peter to continue.

"Then a third clone popped up. It was around the time when we battled Jackal and got him thrown into Ravencroft," Peter summarised and rubbed his temples, "And then Aunt May almost died. Well, not just almost, she died, just as MJ said. That was the stroke that almost broke my back. And things just continued to spiral more and more out of control from thereon out. Guess what? No, you'd probably never guess right. I was arrested for murder!"

"Damn. Your life's as much of a rollercoaster ride as mine," Ranma muttered softly and shook her head, "I'm almost afraid to ask as it's just like watching a train wreck, but what happened next?"

"Kaine had grabbed Mary Jane, I was behind bars and desperate. Someone named Traveller helped me out and weaved an illusion that made it seem I was still behind bars, and I hightailed it to where MJ was," Peter explained and stopped to take a sip of his soda, "When I got there all hell broke loose. Not only were Kaine and Ben there, nope the third clone was there as well. It turned into a battle royale, but we managed to break MJ free. The third clone was seemingly killed, but I'll get to that."

"Seemingly, eh? You forgot to cover your bases, right?" Ranma surmised.

"Ah, ah, no forestalling. Well, Ben and I switched places so I could be with my pregnant honey here-"

"Damn, this Ben sounds like a fine chap to me," Ranma mused to herself.

"You can say that again," MJ agreed and nodded a few times to emphasise what she had said.

"That he is. I would trust him with my life," Peter added in a serious tone, "Anyway, I filled in for Ben as Scarlet Spider until the trial."

"Trial?" Ranma spoke up in a dark tone as memories were stirred, "I hope yours wasn't a farce for a change."

"It had no chance to become one," Peter said dryly and explained, "I confronted Kaine, and during our battle he confessed to the murders I'd been accused of. Kaine made quite the spectacle of himself in front of the court, going even so far as to threaten to kill the prosecutor if the charges against me weren't dropped. Had him in a head-lock and everything, I was told.

"Being exonerated was a load of my shoulders, let me tell you, and in this moment I truly understood what you'd gone through. It also strengthened my resolve to help clear your name, and Felicia, MJ and I have put some plans into action while you were gone. But more to that later.

"The real shocker though came not much later. Seward Trainer, an old acquaintance of Ben who's a genetic expert he had met during his travels confirmed Warren's claims 'cause he found out that Ben was the real one and I the clone!"

"What!" Ranma exclaimed in a yelp, her eyes narrowed, "I sincerely hope you didn't believe him!"

"There, there, dear, calm down," Felicia said and smirked, "We kept up our training, Master Happosai ensured that."

"Good," breathed Ranma as her mind had deciphered her lover's unspoken message.

"Oh yes, that Master Happosai did," Peter agreed with an almost sigh only for his gaze to sharpen, "And good that he did. As said, I had my doubts from the get go ever since Ben resurfaced. Was I the real one or the clone? That question drove me up the wall, but the Art was like a rock in the surge for me. I hoped that as my mastery over my ki grew that I'd be able to have closure, one way or the other. I even won that bet with the police officers!"

"Cool! I bet they were impressed, eh?" Ranma mused with a genuine, pride-filled smile.

Peter's brown eyes twinkled. "You betcha. And closure I got. My sensitivity to ki grew in leaps and bounds as I trained under Master Happosai, and over time I was able to find deviations in Ben's ki paths that are not found in my own. Master Happosai discreetly checked Ben as well, and Ben's primary and secondary ki paths are less developed than mine ever were even before my training. He concurs that Ben is the clone.

"So, when Trainer told us that Ben was the real one I acted shocked. I still can't believe I managed to act so convincingly, but you guys must be rubbing off on li'l ole boyscout me."

"One can only corrupt if there's something to corrupt in the first place, isn't it so, dear?" Ranma asked in a mock-contemplative tone, her right brow cocked.

Felicia nodded mock-seriously. "Absolutely."

"If only I had a pillow I'd throw it at you, nah, make that two pillows 'cause I couldn't decide whom to hit," Peter retorted with a mock-grumble.

"We love you too, Pete," Ranma and Felicia replied in stereo and descended into giggles.

Mary Jane held her right hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. "I really missed the byplay between you two. It's great to have you back, Ranma," the redhead said with a sincere smile.

Ranma's answering smile was soft yet brilliant. "It's good to be back. And even though trouble seems to be brewing I rather be in the thick of it than somewhere else."

Peter sighed. "Trouble, now that's a good catchword. I feel like a heel that I still haven't told Ben the truth, but I have no idea how. And I admit I wanna find out what Trainer or whoever he's working for is getting out of this. I'm almost certain that Trainer's not working for Warren as I haven't found a connection, but who knows?"

Ranma mulled Peter's words over and massaged her lower lip with her right thumb and index finger. "Don't tell him yet, Pete," she said and held up her left hand to forestall comments, "Let's think this through. There's obviously someone out there who wants to weaken your morale, your conviction, be it Warren or someone else. This someone wanted to deal you a fuckin' wallop of a blow by making you believe that you were a clone of the real Peter Parker. He wanted you depressed. Insecure. This asshole wanted to put you through hell.

"We cannot afford to tip someone this dangerous, someone who can pull off something on this scale, off. If we tell Ben there's a good chance that he'd bungle it up, for what this mysterious fucker wanted to do to you he'd be going through. He wouldn't act naturally, he would want answers and fast, no matter how. It's only natural, and it's probably how any of us would react."

Agreeing murmurs permeated the room and an abashed looking Peter sighed. "My mind agrees, but my heart's a different matter entirely. I can't fault your logic, though. Ben has made different experiences than I, which means that I cannot predict how he'd react. If he'd react only the slightest bit like me then yes, he'd bollix it."

Ranma sighed. "I so hate, hate, hate, hate being forced to hide something of this magnitude from someone who's essentially your twin, Pete, and for something so hollow sounding like the 'greater good'."

"But we have no choice," opined Felicia sourly, "I like it as much as you guys do, that is not at all. I've fought alongside Ben and he's as great a guy as Pete here, but I agree, he has to be kept in the dark. If we lull whoever's pulling the strings into a false sense of security we might just flush him out. And-"

"And what?" Ranma queried, picking up where her lover had left off.

"And maybe we'll kill two birds with one stone if, yeah, if this mysterious mastermind has had a hand in creating your clone," Felicia expounded, and rolled her eyes, "Come on, you must have drawn this conclusion as well, dear. It is more than probable that the crazy fuck that set up Peter may very well have set up you as well. Maybe he wanted a test run and used Kodachi to this end."

Silence permeated the room for a few seconds until the sound of gnashing teeth could be perceived. "Whoever this fucker is, he or she will regret having used my life in a lab rat experiment. At the risk of sounding like Ryoga, I will make their life hell!"

"Agreed. But Warren will pay for all he did," Peter said in a hiss and paused to crack his knuckles, "To you, Ranma, to Ben and to me. Even to Kaine. And he'll pay for creating that third clone of me, Freakface."

"`Freakface´?" Ranma parroted incredulously, both brows raised almost into the hairline.

Peter sighed and briefly closed his eyes before turning a haunted gaze upon Ranma. "I mentioned him briefly. He was another clone of me. We, Ben and I happened upon him during the time Kaine had abducted MJ."

"He- He thought of himself as the real Peter Parker," Mary Jane whispered softly with a faraway look, "He even tried to protect me when Kaine came for me, let himself be beaten into unconsciousness as he tried to stop him. For a time he seemed... normal. Just like Pete."

"Ben and I followed Kaine to his hideout," Peter smoothly took over, "And the third clone joined us, he even took over the search and led the attack on Kaine. He gave us the slip at one point, to, as we found out later, follow Mary Jane.

Mary Jane nodded. "Yes. He tried to reassure me that he was the real one, but the arrival of another Peter Parker, the man I married," the redhead squeezed her spouses' right hand, "made the other go nuts. He tore off his mask, and yelled he was going kill us all. Then things took a strange turn."

"Even stranger?" Ranma asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Peter replied and used his right thumb and index finger to rub the bridge of his nose, "It's purely speculation, but I surmise that the state of fury the clone slipped into caused a genetic trigger to activate within him, for his body began to shift and transform. Kaine told us that the third clone was a killing machine engineered by the Jackal and to get away while he handled it. MJ and I heeded his advice and I got her to relative safety. Both Kaine and Ben fought the clone, whose face began contorting while his body became able to stretch and expand.

"According to Ben Freakface still believed himself to be the real Peter Parker, and blamed the Jackal for doing something to his DNA to cause this and that he wouldn't be cured unless he destroyed the Jackal's enemies first. Starting with us. Ben dubbed him "Freakface", causing the nutsoid clone to focus on him as he tried to crush him with enlarged fists.

"That presented Kaine with an opening, and he flattened Freakface with a piece of debris. But that wasn't the end of it, for Freakface emerged larger and more enraged than before. That was when I rejoined the fight.

"Ben and Kaine led Freakface aboveground while I used my webbing as a slingshot to shoot steel girders at nutso. Even degenerated and deranged as he was he still claimed to be the real Peter Parker and things came to a head when he lifted a propane truck to throw at us. Kaine, my less than scrupulous clone, correctly surmised that we would still try to reason with Freakface so as to save another brother, so he took our decision away and threw a car at the propane truck, causing an explosion that destroyed Freakface. Or so we assume."

"Hot damn! Your life's as crazy as mine!" Ranma whispered softly, an expression that consisted of shock and fascination on her face.

"You can say that again," Peter agreed sourly, "I'm so mad at Warren for playing God, for playing with lives as he pleases that I want to tear his head off. And I'm sad for Freakface. He didn't ask for any of it, but because of Warren he became a killer, a killer who has my face."

"I can relate," Ranma retorted in a tone that matched Peters', "My clone didn't ask to be turned into a killer either. And that's what makes it so horrid for you and me, isn't it? Warren created another you and another me and removed our morals and ethics, what compels us to help others. He created perversions of us, and for that he'll pay."

"Maybe sooner than you think, Ranma," Peter mused, "Warren's the reason I am here. I think I may have a lead on him, but I can't and won't leave MJ at home as a sitting duck. I was about to come over here anyway to get MJ to safety when Reed called. With so many nutsos with super-powers popping up-"

"Tiger, I don't mind you looking out for me, for us," Mary Jane corrected herself and rubbed her belly, "when it's in order. Warren knows who you are underneath the mask and we could easily become targets because of that. Do what you have to do."

Peter looked surprised for a moment, then an expression that radiated determination appeared on his face. The door suddenly opening pre-empted Ranma from speaking further and a harried looking Reed literally stretched his head into the room. "Peter, you wanted to be notified if and when something came up involving theft from science or research facilities. This came in not two minutes ago. A web-slinging figure robbed the Genetech Science Facility in Bayville, Long Island a few minutes ago.

"He, for the web-slinger was described as male, apparently took Genetech's entire supply of Riconucleic Nanocontagium. I was notified that Genetech has called in the New Warriors to retrieve the isotope, but that was five minutes ago," he said, leaving the implications hanging.

"Who knows what happened in the mean time," Peter grimly nodded.

"Indeed," Reed agreed and grimaced when a device in one of his pockets went off, "Great. And another emergency," he grumbled after taking a look at the gadget.

"Don't sweat it, Reed," Felicia said in a tone that suggested she was used to this, "Off you guys go, we'll handle things here."

Reed nodded. "Right. We'll continue this later," he retorted and was off like a shot after nodding at the Parkers and Felicia.

"Okay," Ranma said and clapped her hands, "MJ, sorry to cut this short, but we need to borrow your husband for a bit."

Mary Jane smiled slowly. "I've had years to get used to it. Now shoo or your trail's gonna get cold."

Ranma returned the smile. "I've missed you, sis," she retorted with genuine emotion before mentally gearing up, "You heard her, suit up!"

The returnee shifted into her Scarlet Widow gear but stopped in surprise when Felicia didn't shift into her regular costume. SD visibly retreated from Felicia's body just leaving her in black shorts and an equally black tee, and the silver-haired woman produced and donned a spider-themed costume from somewhere that was all black aside from a stylised predominantly white yin and yang symbol that formed the body of a spider.

Reaching into a pocket Felicia retrieved a pair of mechanical webshooters and fastened them to her wrists. Seeing the look on her lover's face the former Black Cat said, "This," she pointed at herself and twirled on the spot to show off her costume, "is part of our efforts to establish some bona fides for Ranma Saotome when the going gets tough. Reed helped us out. This costume comes with a holographic projector that simulates how you change, and don't worry about protection, SD's taking care of that.

"Our premise was as follows: seeing as you can mimic all of Peter's powers even with your ki and your mastery of The Art we created the identity the press took to calling 'YinYang Spider'. I know, lame name, but it gets the meaning across. S/He's the unknown hero who's helping people when needed, always there to protect the innocent and those too weak to defend themselves.

"Peter's even donned the costume a few times to make your story believable once the authorities finally cave in, you know, what with your dual genderdness, but more to that later. We have some butt to kick!"

Ranma stood there dazed for a few seconds and Peter chuckled. "I think you broke her," he said and casually donned his face mask, completing his outfit.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Felicia retorted with a grin to her voice, "But her recovery rate is amazing, amongst other things."

The returnee stared on for a few more moments and had to visibly shake herself to return to reality. "Wow. I don't know what to say and I swear I'll find a way to make this up to you guys, but you're right. Butt kicking time it is!"

Mary Jane clearing her throat stopped the trio's preparations to leave cold. "I guess I don't have to remind you but it has never hurt, be careful!"

"We will!" Ranma and Felicia retorted in stereo with Peter having nodded at the same time. The arachnid hero kissed the top of his wife's head and encircled her with his arms. "We will, dear. Be back later, and who knows, maybe we'll have some worries less."

Mary Jane smiled wryly and let go of her husband. "One can only hope. Now go kick some ass, tiger!"

Peter saluted like a soldier. "Aye, aye, ma'am!"

"Later, MJ!" Ranma exclaimed as the other redhead giggled at her spouse's antics and to speed things up the host of Sym jumped out of the nearest window like a shot, Peter and Felicia following her on the heel.

-.-

Swinging through the afternoon air of New York City Scarlet Widow let Spider-Man and the former Black Cat as the New Yorker's who still knew their way around the Big Apple a bit better than her lead the way. She still could not get over the whole 'YinYang Spider' business, but to be honest with herself, she got all warm and fuzzy inside at the thought of her lover and her best male friend going to such lengths to paint a good picture of her.

Banishing her contemplations to the recesses of her mind for review at a later time Scarlet Widow instinctively focussed on the here and now, her keen senses having discerned that they were closing in on the target area.

It seemed Lady Luck was smiling down on them as a loud explosion emanated from a southern direction, and not wasting a moment the trio changed direction. Web-slinging as quickly as they could Ranma, Peter and Felicia just arrived in time to see the tail-end of a battle between a costumed, webslinging figure and four members of the New Warriors, Justice, Speedball, Turbo and Powerpax, the latter chasing after the former.

Not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth the three followed the heroes and the apparent villain covertly to what looked like an abandoned apartment building where they adhered to the eastern wall. "If we want to get Warren we gotta get his minion to lead us to him," Felicia reasoned in a whisper, "And as it looks like those youngsters won't be able to stop this man, Spidey, got your tracers on you?"

"Sure thing, YY," Peter retorted a bit cheekily and grinned at the glare that was likely levelled at him, "I'll better get to it before you get violent."

"No Spidey, let me," Ranma spoke up, "I'm way better at stealth than you, and Sym and me developed a new skill. I wanted to try it out anyway," she explained, and without waiting for a reply the symbiote-host faded from sight, ostensibly entering the building.

"I hate when she does that," Peter complained in a low mutter, "That's something I've definitely not missed about her."

"Amen to that," Felicia agreed, "But that's just the way she acts when she thinks she's better at something. The sad thing is she almost always is."

Peter scoffed good-naturedly. "Don't tell her that or her ego might grow too big."

Felicia snorted, her expression clouded. "Fat chance. I don't think she'll ever be as over-confident as she was in her old life, and after what happened what with her having been forced to kill a whole species I have a feeling she's even more down to earth than before. I wonder what else has changed about her after all she's been through."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Peter said softly, "There isn't anything you or any of us could have done."

"That may be so," Felicia agreed, "But-"

-.-

While her lover and her best friend were quietly making conversation Ranma made her way into the apparent apartment building. Seeing as she was in full stealth mode there was little to no chance of being detected which prompted her to move as quickly as possible.

Ranma's eyes widened beneath her mask when she found that the apparent apartment building was far from being one, and she resisted the urge to whistle lowly when she entered a formerly hidden complex. Following the sounds of battle she arrived in the nick of time to see the obviously spider-powered thief extending his left arm through some kind of forcefield, knocking the hero her symbiote had identified as Justice down.

Suddenly she understood why she had been so confused as to the fact that Peter's life energy seemed to be coming from two different sources at once. **'He's another clone!'** Ranma realised and added, **'But damn, what kinda drugs has he been doing that he looks so pumped up?'**

Capitalising on the momentary distraction of Peter's third clone Ranma soundlessly dropped down behind the man, a neck strike dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Acting quickly Ranma used her right hand to test out something Sym and she had only theorised about, and shrugging to herself while thinking **'Here goes nothing,' **she injected part of her symbiote into the clone.

Her part done within seconds she hurried over to the downed Justice and touched a pressure point that would trigger muscle spasms in his right arm in a few moments. Nodding satisfied Scarlet Widow recloaked herself and jumped up, adhering to the ceiling, intent on watching if her ploy had been successful.

The third Parker clone sat up five seconds later and shook his head while grumbling, "Damn, what hit me?", and Ranma's gaze followed his to Justice whose right arm was twitching.

"So he had enough fight left in him to knock me down," the clone mused to himself, "But not enough to finish me. Bah. Count yourself lucky that I'm in a hurry and that your friends are coming, dweeb."

Inwardly a bit shocked at the implications this statement of Peter's clone wrought Ranma watched the said spider-powered man vacate the premises, muttering about how he would commit Spidercide on Peter, Ben and Kaine for what they had done to him.

**'Shit. This... Man's totally different from Peter! He would've killed Justice had it not been for his friends or me intervening when necessary!'** she thought as she watched the other three heroes literally charging into the room.

– _**I concur. This is yet again more evidence that the clones we are confronted with can be programmed to turn into killers, –**_ Sym observed darkly, _**– And in case you are wondering, our tracer works. –**_

Ranma shook herself from her thoughts and absently watched Justice being carried away by his friends. **'That's good news. Any suggestions on how to proceed?'**

– _**If we want to find out what Warren plans it would be remiss of us to strike now, –**_ Sym opined thoughtfully, _**– The man obviously has plans for the Riconucleic Nanocontagium, and it is on us to find out what they are. –**_

**'I suppose,'** Ranma nodded grudgingly and firmed her jaw, **'Okay Sym, we'll make it so.'**

Having come to a decision Scarlet Widow made her way along the walls and out of the disguised lab.

-.-

Ranma rejoined Felicia and Peter outside and took a deep breath of the cool air. Noting that the New Warriors had taken their leave she took another deep breath, her face serious. "I'll cut right to the chase. The webslinger I tagged is another clone of yours, Peter, and I have reason to believe that he is the one you guys dubbed 'Freakface'."

"What?" came the surprised gasp from the spider-powered hero.

"No wonder he beat the New Warriors so easily," Felicia breathed and shook her head, "They never stood a chance against his spider powers."

"Yep," Ranma nodded, "Sym and I concur that he is a programmed killer, and he would have killed Justice had not his friends arrived just in time. Not to mention, I'd have stopped him had it come this far. But my plan worked, and I can now trace him anywhere on the planet."

"What makes you think that he's 'Freakface'?" inquired Peter.

"Oh, just that he talked about how he would pay you, Ben and Kaine back for what you did to him," Ranma retorted casually, "And as I don't know about any other clones you guys had a brawl with I concluded it gotta be him."

"So 'Freakface' lives," Peter muttered grimly.

"That he does, and once we have given him enough of a lead to cosy him along we will strike and take them out," Ranma retorted steely.

"There's a serious flaw in your plan, Widow," Peter spoke up, his tone even grimmer, "Warren is insane, and his plans likely even more so. We cannot allow him to finish cobbling together whatever he's brewing up."

Ranma blinked when Sym brought up an image of a villain Peter had fought long ago, and she swore when her symbiote expounded upon the said villain's history. "Carrion. Damn, Sym and I screwed up."

"What are you onto, hon?" Felicia inquired, "Your last logical leap threw me for a loop."

"Spidey here was forced to fight a degenerated clone of Warren ages ago. That degeneration had given the clone super powers, but he was defeated by the Spider-Amoeba he himself had created. But there was a second Carrion created by a virus and-"

"Thanks, hon, but SD just brought me up to speed," Felicia interrupted, "And I gotta agree, there's no telling what Warren will do in light of what he's already done in the past. We gotta act and fast!"

"Follow me!" Ranma exclaimed and jumped forward and off the housewall, firing her webbing and web-slinging away at high speed.

Peter and Felicia wasted no time with a verbal reply and followed Scarlet Widow's example.

-.-

Scarlet Widow swore colourfully amidst shooting a new line of webbing, and without needing a prompting from her partners she spoke up, "They're moving out, and fast. Gauging from the speed they're going at I'd say they're using a car. Do you have money on you, hon?"

"Yes. Why?" Felicia asked, the tone of her voice conveying the raised brows.

"Simple. They're headed westwards, out of town, and it stands to reason that they want to do whatever it is they want to do away from the city so as not to draw attention," Ranma explained, prompting her lover and her friend to nod in agreement, "So we follow them to the outskirts, rent a car and continue to track them."

"Makes sense. But why not strike now? That'd minimise the danger!" Peter argued as he swung alongside the females.

The former Saotome was about to retort, but Ranma's retort was pre-empted by Felicia saying, "I think I know why. Widow still wants to find out if there's someone in the background, someone else pulling the strings. For remember, we have the possible involvement of Oscorp in what happened to her."

"And you hope those two will lead us to more clues, or, ideally, their boss?" Peter inquired neutrally.

"Ideally, yes. It's just a feeling, but as said before, I've got the feeling that there's someone pulling the strings from the shadows," Ranma said with a shrug, and added, "Don't get me wrong, I want to fillet Warren for what he did to me, but if there's a boss in the background he or she's gonna get their just desserts too."

"Which is only possible if Warren and his Spidey-clone-"

"Objection! Call him Freakface. He may have the same genes as me, but that is where the sameness end," Peter objected strongly.

Felicia inclined her head in mid-web-shooting. "Sorry, Spidey. In short, we'll only get clues or our hands on the potential boss if we let Warren and Freakface arrive at their destination."

"I still have my misgivings with the plan, but I agree, if there is someone behind Warren this is the best course of action," Peter admitted grudgingly.

"Good. Then let's make good on the plan," Ranma replied and looked ahead, her eyes narrowing and a concentrated look appearing on her face as the trio continued to track the third Parker clone and his creator.

-.-

Round about three hours later a black Sedan pulled into Springville, PA. The driver, one Peter Parker, wasted no time in covertly following their target, a van driven by the Jackal and his co-driver Spidercide.

"Pete, they've stopped moving. Pull up into a by-road and let's suit up," a strawberry blonde woman spoke up from the backseat.

"Your wish is my command, ma'am," Peter retorted cheekily before complying.

"Smartass," Ranma grumbled in a mutter and rolled her eyes when her lover, one Felicia Hardy, giggled.

"And proud of it. My wit drove countless scores of enemies insane," Peter mock-boasted good-naturedly as he pulled up into a sidearm of Wood Road.

"You reckon Reed should give him a check-up if his wit did the same to him himself, hon?" Ranma remarked casually as Peter parked the car by the roadside.

"Now there's a thought, dear," Felicia mused acquiescently and unfastened the seat-belt.

"Your care is truly moving," Peter retorted mock-sarcastically as he unfastened his own seat-belt and opened the door at the same time as Felicia, "But truly unneeded. Like a poisonous spider to its venom, I am immune."

Ranma, who had got out of the car as well stretched and turned serious eyes upon her friends. "I'm sure you are, but now it's all jokes aside. Guys, suit up!" she said and quickly made her way into the adjacent copsewood.

Once hidden from potentially prying eyes Ranma let Sym cover her body forming the usual Scarlet Widow garb, and Peter and Felicia, who had joined her while she was 'transforming' quickly donned their own costumes.

"Say, hon, why don't you use your symbiote-generated combat-suit? It'd be much safer," Ranma said and failed to completely keep the undertone of worry from her voice.

"I want to ensure that no one has reason to believe that the 'YinYang Spider' is nothing but a super-powered human, dear," Felicia replied as she finished gearing up, "It's sweet that you worry about me, but I'm a big girl, just like you are when you're one."

Ranma stopped herself from mentioning that she was really looking forward to being male again after almost a month of being female for fear of inducing a discussion revolving around the question 'And what's wrong with being female?' as she would inevitably lose in some way or another and just inclined her head, eliciting a nod and undoubtedly a smile from Felicia.

A look at Peter told her that the spider-powered male was ready as well, and nodding first at Peter then at Felicia she shot her webbing and swung into the evening sky, using her tracer to home in on the third clone of Peter Parker.

-.-

"There he is!" Scarlet Widow exclaimed as her target came into visual range, "But he's alone!"

"Doesn't matter. Jackal's gotta be close by, if need be we'll turn the entire town upside down to find him!" 'YinYang Spider' retorted determinedly as she too closed in on the brown-haired man sitting on a park bench with his back to the approaching trio.

"Quick, get him before his spider-sense warns him!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

"Too late for that, on all accounts," the man spoke up levelly and casually tossed a cylindrical container over his right shoulder before suiting up into his Spidercide costume. The device popped open upon contact with the ground, releasing something invisible.

"YY, suit up! Hurry!" Scarlet Widow exclaimed urgently before grabbing Spider-Man in a hug and hurriedly covering him with her symbiote, fearing the worst.

Ranma moved her head to glare at 'Freakface' and Sym formed the 'eyes' accordingly, and when Felicia dropped to her knees and began coughing her glare intensified. **'I hate when I'm right, she should have listened!'** she thought in helpless anger and yelled, "Whatever you just did, you and your maker, Warren, are going to pay. On second thought, you'll pay right now!"

Virtually snarling Ranma raised her right arm, a symbiote-generated mini-gun forming on her upper right arm. Projectiles that looked a lot like nails spewed forth from the mini-gun in quick bursts, but if the third Parker was surprised he didn't show it. Casually leaping into the air the spider-powered clone, likely guided by his spider sense, evaded the projectiles and easily stayed ahead of the continuing onslaught via repeated usage of aerial acrobatics, finally touching down behind a huge tree which he used as cover.

"You can't hit me and I cannot get close enough to finish you and Spider-Man despite your vulnerable position, and you have to protect your other partner, which means we are at an impasse," the man with Peter Parker's voice said, unperturbed by the tree bark splintering due to Ranma's continued onslaught, and added, "Just so that you know, I didn't take pleasure in what I just did, but it was part of the plan."

Looking around Scarlet Widow stopped her assault when she noticed that the people they had happened upon on their way to apprehend 'Freakface' were without exception lying unmoving on the ground. Ranma used her senses to feel for the life energy around her and came to a startling conclusion.

"The people... Whatever you just did killed them all!" she snarled heatedly.

"I won't bother to discuss morals and ethics with you as this wasn't planned, so, see you around. Oh, and better luck next time," the clone sneered and leapt away from behind the severely damaged tree, firing his webbing.

Ranma opened fire anew but the agility of the clone ensured that the projectiles missed by a wide margin. "Fuck!" she exclaimed angrily when it was apparent that the clone had got away, "All those people dead... not my fault... Freakface's fault... Warren's fault... gonna rip their hearts out and crush 'em while they watch!" she muttered, her voice full of rage and hate.

– **While your plans for Warren and Freakface are commendable, would it not be prudent to ask how your fellow humans are holding up? –** Sym inquired dryly.

"Fel- YY! How you holding up?" she queried fearfully, "And what about you, Spidey?"

"I- I don't feel so good," Felicia replied after coughing repeatedly, "Whatever Freakface released, some of it got to me before SD had finished suiting up. She's taking care of it she says, but I need... rest," she coughed and collapsed face-first to the ground.

Ranma's first instinct was to leap to her girl-friend's side, but Sym's sharp bark of _**– Stop! –**_ stopped her cold.

**'What?' **Ranma inquired confused.

– _**Peter just said that he is feeling fine, even if he is not a fan of being confined like this. But him being alive and well would be subject to change were you to release your hold on him, for whatever 'Freakface' released is still airborne and deadly, –**_ Sym explained in a grave tone, _**– Besides, Felicia's pulse and heart beat are steady even if a bit weak. I concur with my daughters' assessment, she will pull through with no ill effects. –**_

**'Oh, that's good,'** was the only thing a very relieved Ranma was able to retort, and turning her attention to Peter she said, "Good that you're feeling fine, Spidey, but I fear we'll have to stay like this until the danger of you dying from the stuff Freakface set free has passed."

"I see. Good thing I'm married and you're into girls, then," Peter replied in a tone that was just a bit strangled.

"If only these facts would stop your you-know-what from poking me," Ranma bit out sarcastically and sighed, "But I know it ain't your fault as it's an autonomous reaction in males in situations like these."

Peter wiped the proverbial sweat from his brow. "Glad you understand. I am a red-blooded male, and you're, well, hot. And I'll shut up now before I dig myself deeper. Ziiip."

"You're a regular comedian, Spidey," Ranma muttered in a tone as dry as the Sahara, only for a smirk to blossom on her face as she added, "But I'll take it as a compliment, and before you get any ideas, no, I won't forget this incident as it makes for prime blackmail material."

"D'oh," Spider-Man muttered and sighed, "Figures. I never catch a break."

"Your point being? Me neither," Ranma retorted dryly, "Besides, see it this way, you get to hug li'l hot me as an appetizer, and when you get home and play your cards right you get MJ as the main course, no?

"I see you like the thought," the ex-Saotome remarked dryly.

"That was not helpful," Spider-Man muttered and sighed, "Why do I always end up in situations like this?"

"I suppose you did something terrible in a past life," Ranma theorised with a shrug, "Maybe like what I recently did, destroyed a civilisation or something. Who knows? But I'm about to kick karma in the nuts, 'cause my tracer's still working."

Peter's head shot up at that. "Really? That's great. But as much as I want to accompany you, you should probably go alone. No, let me explain. Yes, I want to bash Jackal's head in as much as you, but I'm a liability. Hadn't I been with you two Freakface's spider sense wouldn't have gone off. I won't say this," the emphasis he put on the last word easily conveyed that he meant the deaths, "wouldn't have happened as he might have sensed your approach anyway, but if you attack their hideout under full stealth they'll never see you coming."

Ranma sighed but nodded, catching on to the underlying meaning that Peter wanted to protect his pregnant wife even if he didn't say it outright. "You always make a lot of sense, Spidey. Okay. We'll take YY back to Reed to have him verify that everything's okay, and then I'll go on the warpath. Sym?"

– _**Your highly entertaining conversation has lasted long enough for the virus to disperse, –**_ Sym spoke up, and added, _**– Yes, it was a virus. One engineered to make genetic changes to whoever it came into contact with, and gauging from its potency I would say it eradicated all of the indigenous population. Why Miles Warren engineered it to this end is unknown, but it is safe to assume it did not work as he had imagined. –**_

"First off, the danger's passed," Ranma said and released Peter from his symbiotic 'prison', much to his visible relief, "Secondly, Freakface released a virus Warren created, and it killed everyone in this town per Sym's estimation. They're mass murderers!" she added, her voice icy-cold.

"That's... That... It beggars belief!" Peter muttered in a voice that sounded oddly detached to him, "That they're capable of... Oh no!"

"What?"

"I just realised why they chose a town as remote as this. It was a test! And seeing as the field-test was successful, who is to say that the next deployment won't be on an even larger scale?" Peter theorised gravely and shook his head, "Your mission to stop them just became much more urgent!"

"You don't say, Sherlock," Ranma retorted sarcastically and leapt over to Felicia, carefully picking her up bridal style, "To the car, Spidey, maximum speed!"

Spider-Man could only watch as Scarlet Widow turned into a blur, and the spider-powered man sighed before muttering, "Some days it just doesn't pay to roll out of bed."

Then he gave chase.

-.-

About one hour after their departure from Springville, PA, Peter, Ranma and an unconscious Felicia were on the Interstate 80-E and well on their way back to New York City. Night had long since fallen, and the ex-Saotome was in the back with Felicia's head resting in her lap, Ranma stroking her lover's hair ever so often.

Suddenly the gender changer's head shot up. "That bastard! He's returning to Springville!"

"Who?" Peter asked as his quick mind already connected the dots, "You don't mean... Freakface?"

"One and the same!" Ranma exclaimed heatedly and gnashed her teeth, "Instead of returning to their lair like good little villains they return to the crime scene. How is that predictable? And we're way too far away to do anything!"

"Stop complaining. You sensed some of the New Warriors you knew and another one who felt a lot like me, most likely Ben. With any luck they'll happen upon Freakface and Jackal and rid us of them. If not you can still grind your axe or axes on them," Peter retorted and yawned, the tiredness stemming from all the exertion slowly catching up to him.

"Sounds good to me. My first priority is to ensure Felicia's safety anyway," Ranma agreed with a nod, "I trust SD's diagnosis, but I bet Reed can speed up her recovery."

"That's the spirit, Ranma," Peter nodded with a smile, "That's the spirit."

The headlights illuminating the road ahead the Sedan drove towards New York City, the city where everything had ended for one Ranma Saotome, but also the city where everything might just begin anew.

**to be continued**...

DUN DUN DUUUN... the dimension hopping – or filler arc as some took to calling it – is over, it's back to your regularly scheduled fic! Oh, and just as an aside, it didn't take me four months this time to release a new chapter! Hah!

Weeel, right into the Clone Saga we jump! Not too much action here, I know, mostly things building up and summing up what happened in the 'lost months', but next chapter's gonna be a blast! Provided I don't get hit by a truck or something equally as nasty Chapter 20 will go up in about a month, at the latest in late October 2010.

I even ordered 'Maximum Bonage', err, Clonage to get a better grip on locations like the Jackal's lab and the like, hope it wasn't 15 pounds that are gonna go up in smoke. Oh well.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services, my readers in general and The Nameless Critic in particular for going to the trouble of reading and reviewing every single chapter! You, along with several other reviewers, really gave me food for thought! Oh, and thanks to my yahoo group for the support! There's probably tons of others I'm forgetting, so let this be a general shout of 'Kudos!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):**

marc, Maric, wert1990, MadHat886, CaedesPlerique, Jimbobob5536, deathgeonous, Orchamus, Majin Hentai X, New lord of darkness, firelordeg, Wharpt, FluffyNevyn, sparky555, ShineX, Dumbledork, Dragon Man 180, red, Libri Ignis, mmoondragon, Rune Tobor, James Axelrad, Celestial Indigo, Rogue7, They call me Bruce, Hiryo, Wonderbee31, Kingdark, Rocco13, dglsprincess105, Ellen Kuhfeld, Jerry Unipeg, Sargon Dorsai, Bobboky, The Nameless Critic, Screaming Dean, Wrin, Dark-Fox-GT, AlastorGodofVengeance, Darth Payne

Marvel Character section:

Scarlet Spider: basically, Ben Reilly aka Scarlet Spider is the second clone of Peter Parker and the first one to be stable. As that he has the same powers as Spider-Man, except that he has come up with upgrades to his webbing called impact webbing and uses stingers to make his arsenal more deadly than Spidey's. Explaining his history would take up too much space, so you can follow this link to learn more if you're so inclined (just remove the blank lines and you're all set): http :/ www . spiderfan . org / characters / ben_reilly . html

Kaine: he is Jackal's first temporary success at cloning Peter Parker, but the cloning process was flawed, resulting in progressive degeneration. This has granted him increased versions of Spider-Man's powers, and backed with a hatred for Ben Reilly whom he believes to be the real Peter Parker Kaine has tried time and again to make Ben's life hell, even going so far as to frame him for murder. It remains to be seen if redemption is possible at all.

Spidercide: as expounded upon, Spidercide is the third Peter Parker clone. He possesses essentially the same powers as Spidey, but Jackal apparently tweaked his genes to showcase what 10,000 years of evolution would do to Spider-Man. This has granted this clone the ability to shapeshift, giving him the option to form weapons much like Ranma's symbiote or Alex Mercer from Prototype.


	20. The enemy within

**Pre-Chapter A/N: **this chapter's a surprise birthday update! It's my 33rd birthday today, I had this chapter primed and ready and thought to myself 'Why not churn it out and give my readers an early present?'. So go ahead and read, and leave a review if you feel in the mood to make me a present!

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

_

**Chapter 20: The enemy within**

Ranma, dressed in black PJs that hugged her figure like only symbiote-generated clothes could, was lying on the comfortably hard mattress of her bed for the first time in over four months, her arms folded behind her head. The street lamps on the street below afforded the room a slight illumination that was soft enough so that it was not detrimental to sleep, but for Ranma sleep wouldn't come yet.

Her dark blue bed spread with white patterns on it was bunched up at her feet, and Ranma stared straight up at the ceiling. Peter, Felicia and she had arrived back in New York City at 10:28 p.m., but it had taken them over forty minutes to get just from Laurel Hill Park to the general area of the Four Freedoms Plaza due to the dense traffic. Her mood had been accordingly, something which, she now realised, Peter had to have picked up on seeing as he had been very silent. **'Smart man,'** Ranma thought with a wry smile, **'He has apparently learned a lot from living with a pregnant woman.'**

Ranma softly shook her head as her thoughts returned to her most recent adventure, her eyes closing. She never would have guessed that she would be swept up in going after the Jackal right after her return from her double's dimension, but thus seemed to be her life, ever chaotic, ever hectic. They had been so close to getting their hands on Miles Warren too, but then his goon Spidercide, incidentally an apparently genetically engineered clone of her best friend Peter Parker had queered their pitch.

It still boggled the mind that a clone of Peter had released a virus that had killed thousands of people in Springville, PA, but that mass murdering act had shown quite plainly that clones, individuals with the same genes, memories and sets of skills as someone who was a hero – Peter, not her – could be programmed to be killers.

Unfortunately the virus had affected the love of her life, one Felicia Hardy, too, as her symbiote had not been quick enough to protect her fully, reason why she had only made it to her apartment about five minutes ago at 2:15 a.m.

Her lips thinned in remembered annoyance. Due to the fact that the traffic had been so dense Ranma had concluded that it would be highly probable that a lot of people would see her carrying Felicia out of the car and into the Four Freedoms Plaza, which is why she had come up with the idea to get out of the car a few blocks away from 42nd Street and Madison Avenue.

Peter had easily agreed to the plan and had pulled up into 37th Street and Ninth Avenue where he had let them out close to a dumpster, and seeing as SD had obviously agreed to the plan she had suited Felicia up in Scarlet Widow configuration.

Ranma remembered that she had smiled at the symbiote's forethought as it gave the YinYang Spider another opportunity to establish her credentials, and Sym had consequently suited her up in the YinYang Spider garb.

The ghost of a wry smile played on the aquatranssexual's face as she remembered what had happened when she had touched down in front of the Four Freedoms Plaza...

_Ranma had really begun to enjoy web-slinging through the cool evening air of the Big Apple as it had been a long time since she had been allowed to do so outside of combat situations, and it was with a sense of wistfulness that she prepared to descend from the skyline. Ensuring that everything was okay with Felicia was the top priority, but she definitely intended to go on a webslinging tour just for kicks soon. Granted, using the mechanical web-shooters Felicia had got from Peter had felt strange and she much preferred her own webbing, but it had felt damn good nonetheless._

_Sighing wistfully in her mind she landed gracefully on the sidewalk, only to stop short when a male voice speaking up prompted her to turn her head around. "Good evening, YinYang Spider."_

_Sym supplied her with information on the man so Ranma just inclined her head, "Good evening, Mr. Urich."_

_"As this is obviously Scarlet Widow you are carrying, may I ask what has transpired?" Urich queried, notepad and biro already in his hands._

_"She got caught up in a surprise gas attack, and I managed to hold my breath long enough to save her," Ranma replied evenly, "I had to perform CPR, but I'm pretty sure she'll make it."_

_Ben Urich scribbled something in his notepad and made a humming sound. "I see. Why is it that you have brought her here as opposed to a hospital?"_

_"Aside from the fact that they would try to learn her secret identity which is a secret for a reason?" Ranma retorted amusedly which elicited an equally amused smile on Ben Urich's part, "We," she nodded her head at Felicia, "have worked together in the past, and she told me to take her to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four if something like what happened ever occurred. Her life is not in danger, so I don't see a reason not to abide by her wishes. Which is, if you'll excuse me, what I'll be doing now. Good night, Mr Urich."_

_The Daily Bugle reporter inclined his head and stashed his notepad and biro. "Thank you for your time, Miss, and good night to you too."_

_Ranma had inclined her head as well while thinking __**'That might just mean more good press,'**__, and following the impromptu interview she had entered the building and rode the elevator instead of doing something reckless and irresponsible like crawling up all the way to the 74__th__ floor one-handed._

Just like her sweep for ki energy had revealed, Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four had been back from whatever mission they had been on, and the genius amongst the team had quickly examined Felicia. Luckily he had come to the same conclusion as SD. The former Black Cat was fine, all that was needed was a few days of rest.

Having the confirmation that everything was okay from someone she trusted had taken a load off Ranma's mind, and after having placed Felicia in one of the guest rooms where she would be properly taken care off she had sat together with the Fantastic Four and MJ. A little later Peter, having returned the car to the rental station, had joined them.

They had talked amicably until 2 a.m., which was when the Parkers had decided to call it a night, and here she was, in her own bed for the first time in long, alone. Being back in her own dimension lying in her very own bed without Felicia felt strange, but Felicia was alive and relatively well at least, which could not be said about the residents of Springville.

Ranma involuntarily gnashed her teeth. Jackal and Peter's wayward clone would soon get theirs, she would make sure of it. But first she would treat herself to a few hours of sleep, she mused, and pulled her bed spread up to cover her body. She was asleep as soon as her head touched her pillow.

-.-

_**8:41 a.m., Ranma's flat**_

– _**Ranma... –**_ a voice the said gender-changer knew all too well called in her mind, _**– Ranma! –**_

The redhead just mumbled something unintelligible and pulled the bed spread closer to her head in ways of a reaction, which caused Sym to frown mentally. _**– Good. If you want me to do this the hard way, –**_ Sym thought and grinned evilly, _**– we will do this the hard way. –**_

The thought finished Sym acted, and a second later Ranma literally shot up from her slumber, her eyes wide. A dark expression quickly replaced the surprised one, and she literally growled, "What the fuck did you do that for, Sym! Giving me a jolt of adrenaline was totally uncalled for!"

– _**It was not. It was the quickest method to notify you that the third Parker clone is back in New York City, –**_ Sym retorted urgently.

Ranma's eyes widened just a fraction and a cold smile bloomed on her face. "Is he now?" she said and got out of bed.

The smile morphed into a grin as Ranma patted to the bathroom to take care of her business, her PJs already rippling and turning into the costume of the YinYang Spider. As she sat down on the toilette Ranma thought back to how her friends and she had had a discussion on how to best confront Warren and Freakface.

In the end they had agreed that it would be best if Ranma were to confront them in her original Japanese form in the identity Felicia and Peter had created for her as it would hold up best in front of the court, and now the time had come.

After having taken care of her business as well as her female hygiene issues a look of concentration appeared on Ranma's face, and an agonising minute later the face of her Japanese female form stared back at her in the mirror. "Yep, I sure filled out nicely," she mused as she examined herself.

Fastening the fully loaded webshooters to her wrists a dark and confident grin appeared on her face. "Warren, I'm coming for you, and nothing's gonna stand in my way."

– _**If you thought that was badass you really have to work on your lines, –**_ Sym commented in a bored tone.

"Quiet, you. Now it just so happens that I'm in the mood for violence and you're still bitching about. Feh," Ranma retorted and went upstairs, quickly using the skylight to leave her apartment.

– _**As you said yourself countless times, there is always room for improvement, –**_ Sym countered just as Ranma was standing at the edge of the rooftop, fully cloaked, looking at the clear blue morning sky.

**'I'll give you that much, Sym,'** Ranma allowed and jumped off the rooftop, firing her webbing, **'Apropos improvement, I sure as hell hope we will find ways to improve on our ideas of what to do to Warren and Freakface.'**

– _**Freakface, just dispose of him. A murderer he is, but naught more than a puppet. Warren, I have something special in mind for him, –**_ Sym retorted forebodingly.

**'I know from experience not to grill you when you use that tone of voice, so I'll trust your word for it until the time comes,'** Ranma retorted, and her jaw firming she swung to where she knew the third clone of Peter Parker to be.

-.-

Ranma finally arrived at the location her tracer had led her to, and her brows rose in surprise.** 'An old plant? Well, points for originality at least,' **she thought with a shrug.

– _**Not at all. This used to be an old plant run by the department of sanitation, and it is incidentally the place where Peter disposed of his clone ages ago, or so he thought, –**_ Sym commented.

**'So Jackal's aiming to come full circle, eh? How do we get in without alerting him?'** Ranma mused to herself.

– _**See the smokestack a hundred metres to your left, the one that is inactive? –**_ Sym inquired.

Ranma's head swivelled to where her symbiote had indicated, and a smile spread on her lips. **'Good thinking, Sym,'** she commented with a nod and ran towards the said smokestack.

Travelling the distance took her three seconds, and a further ten seconds later Ranma was at the edge of the chimney. **'Sym, please check if there are booby traps or surveillance stuff down there.'**

– _**Your skills at thinking ahead are improving, –**_ the symbiote replied and sent out masses of tendrils, _**– You were right, there is surveillance equipment. It stands to reason that disabling it will tip off our targets, but our chances at success are 48.2 percent higher if we do. –**_

**'Jackal's an arrogant pillock. People like him tend to be so convinced of their own superiority that they don't even bother to check their monitors,'** Ranma replied with a scoff, **'Do it, Sym.'**

Feeling her symbiote nod Ranma could feel Sym going to work. _**– Done. Get down there as quickly as possible. –**_

Ranma wasted no time and crawled down the wall at her quickest speed and dropped soundlessly to the ground. A groan almost escaped her lips when she felt a familiar life energy ahead, and she sighed mentally. **'That's gotta be Ben. I bet he followed Jackal and Freakface,' **she thought and started in surprise when she felt ki-signatures resembling Peter's but much weaker pop up all over the place.

– _**Clones of Peter. At least hundreds of them. And gauging from how weak their ki feels they are little more than cannon fodder, –**_ Sym observed grimly.

**'What do you mean? That they're disposable... sub-human resources?'** Ranma asked in distaste.

– _**You know as well as I do that they are doomed to die. Likely within the hour. You will have to fight your way through them to get to Warren nonetheless, and I suggest you give them a warrior's death, –**_ Sym suggested gravely.

Ranma was about to retort when she heard a soft thump behind her, and she resisted the urge to palm her face when she recognised the newcomer from Peter's descriptions. Long brown hair, a black body-suit with scar-like markings running all over it, a torn, scarlet cape, a black face-mask with similar scar-like markings and red eye-slits.

"Kaine," Ranma said levelly and faded back into visibility.

The first clone of Peter Parker whirled around and swung his right fist in a smooth movement, but to Ranma it came almost in slow motion. She stopped his fist with the palm of her own left hand and applied pressure, a brow cocked underneath her mask. "You're definitely stronger than Spidey, but you're nowhere near my level," she said calmly and easily blocked his follow-up, a right-legged kick aimed for her left kneecap.

"Look, I've got no time for this nonsense," Ranma said sharply as she blocked another attempt at nailing her, "Ben's ahead, probably in the thick of it, so get your act together, Parker!"

The use of his last name stopped Kaine short. "How do you know who I am?" he asked suspiciously.

"From Peter. I am here to take revenge on Warren for him, and for me," Ranma retorted in an icy-cold voice and let go of Kaine's hand, "And we're wasting time with our little tête à tête."

"Revenge? Are you a clone?" Kaine inquired dubiously.

"Of Peter? A genetically engineered female clone, perhaps?" Ranma asked ironically and barely resisted the urge to laugh, "Hell no. Warren made a clone of me. It killed a bunch of people, I got framed, got sent to jail. Here for revenge. Now you either stop wasting my time or I'll knock you silly."

"And you probably could," Kaine conceded and nodded his head, "Very well. Let's join the fray."

Ranma inclined her head sharply and jumped forward, and just as she did she felt Kaine do the same, but with more force. Twisting to the side Ranma caught the fist aimed for the back of her head, and using his own momentum against him she twirled around her own axis and threw the surprised clone through the adjacent wall where she could feel the life energies of Ben and the Spider-Man clones.

"Hope that'll teach you a lesson, Kaine. Betraying me is ill-advised and garners the reward you deserve. Be glad that it's just having to fight hundreds of Spidey clones or I'd be forced to get creative," Ranma remarked coldly and jumped through the hole Kaine had inadvertedly made.

"Just wanted to see how good you really are," the first clone of Peter Parker retorted, got smoothly to his feet and whirled around to take in the situation.

Ranma had done the same after flipping Kaine the bird and saw a figure clad in the scarlet costume and blue hoodie that had earned him the nickname Scarlet Spider dodging scores of Spider-Man clones with wild aerial manoeuvres. "How in Kami-sama's name did Jackal find the time and resources to mass-produce Spidey's costume?" she muttered to herself, shaking her head at the enigma before turning seamlessly serious, "Here goes nothing," the redhead muttered in distaste and threw a score of vacuum blades lightning quick at the clones to the right side of the room.

Ben paused at the whooshing sounds and instinctively backflipped with all his might, almost bringing him to Kaine's and Ranma's position. "Who... You!" he said and turned to Ranma, "You're the YinYang Spider! But... you killed them!"

"They're already dead," Ranma remarked sadly and unleashed another volley of vacuum blades, "They're so degenerated they would decompose within an hour, tops. I'm simply giving them a proper death."

Ben's gaze followed the new volley of vacuum blades thrown by Ranma and started in surprised when he saw something startling. "Hey, she didn't hit those clones in the back! So why... They're starting to decompose!"

Kaine snorted in disgust. "She's right! They are already dead! The Jackal must have popped them out of the lab before they were fully baked!"

"Yes. Trying to attack us is taking too much ki out of their unstable ki matrixes. They're literally burning out from the inside," Ranma explained sadly, and her hands turning to blurs she fired score after score of vacuum blades until the last clone had dropped to the ground, dead.

Her grizzly work done Ranma sighed, looking in distaste at the puddles of brown goo the bodies of the clones were turning into. "They were clones, but they deserved to live," she whispered softly, her head bowed for a few seconds as she paid her respects. Raising her head one could literally feel the anger and hate rolling off of her in waves, "And that's another thing to add to the list, forcing me to end so many lives. Jackal, I'm coming for you!"

Ben tore his gaze from the gruesome sight of his decomposing brethren and glared behind his mask. "Who are you really, lady? And why are you here?" he demanded aggressively, fists stemmed into his sides.

"A good friend of Peter. I'm here because Warren made a clone of me, it killed a lot of people and I got framed. Now I'm here to take revenge, for Peter and for me. More you do not need to know at this time, and I don't have time for further explanations," Ranma retorted without taking her eyes off the sad scene and in a tone that brooked no arguments, "Now come or stay here, I don't care which."

Ben's terse posture visibly relaxed until he finally nodded. "I understand. But before we all rush head-long into battle, be wary of Warren's underling, Spidercide. He can shapeshift, even turn his body to water. Threw me into this room as a toy for the Spider clones after Jackal had poisoned me with his claws, the arrogant asshat."

Ranma paused and turned around to look at Ben. "Spidercide? You mean Freakface?"

"You know him?" Ben asked in a surprised tone.

"Heard of him from Spidey. Thanks for the warning, I'll let my subconscious come up with something creative," Ranma retorted before making move to jump through the hole Kaine had involuntarily created.

Ben demanding, "And what are you doing here, Kaine?" stopped her, though.

Kaine sighed before straightening up. "I stopped at the Parker's on my way here. I don't really know why... Maybe I wanted to see if they were alright, maybe it was something else. Who knows? Peter wasn't there, I'd seen him buy food in the grocery store across the street, and I was about to leave because the coast was clear, but a certain fiery-haired and equally fiery-tempered Mary Jane blocked my path. I'd been silent as a mouse, but she'd heard me anyway."

"MJ's got years of practise," Ranma remarked sagely, "I've got no doubt she could detect even me, and I'm better at stealth than you guys," she added and faded out of sight using the Umi just to prove her point.

Kaine, who had tried to discern Ranma's position fruitlessly just like Ben until she finally faded back into sight, inclined his head. "Point. You know what? Mary Jane gave me the tongue-lashing of my life. I swear my ears are still ringing, hoh boy did she lay into me. I'm like a hundred times stronger than her, but standing before me, almost a full head smaller and her hands pressed on her hips she made me feel like a schoolboy when she lectured me. Made me realise how stupid I'd been. I am a clone, yes, but I live. I wasn't born, but I'm human. I have my own hopes, my own dreams, my own experiences. I'm my own man."

Ben tilted his head as if sceptical before shrugging. "Good for you. Just hope that conviction holds longer than it takes for ice to melt in the sunshine."

"Fuck you very much too," Kaine bit backand flipped his 'brother' the bird.

"MJ is impressive like that. If anyone can talk sense into somebody it's gotta be her," Ranma mused softly before Ben had a chance to react to Kaine's retort, but a few moments later all traces of softness were gone from her posture, "We have wasted enough time. Jackal's mine, you two engage Freakface. Kaine, take these," she said and took off her webshooters and threw them at the clone, "Those were spare anyway. If Freakface changes shape nail him with extra fluid webbing till he barfs. Got it?"

Kaine, having snatched the webshooters from mid-air, looked at them before shrugging and slipping them on. "Got it."

"Good. One more thing: don't trust anything Warren says. He's a mass murderer with an agenda, and he'd say and do anything to achieve his insane goals. He'd even claim he had a cure to your degeneration just to throw you off your game, Kaine, keep that in mind," Ranma said firmly and turned her body to fixate the failed clone, "Help me and I'll show you a way to stabilise your condition, and I never go back on my word. But stab me in the back and I'll boot you all the way to East River before feeding you to the fishes."

Her threat delivered Ranma jumped at the adjacent wall, adhered to it and crawled along its surface and out of the room, leaving a stunned Kaine standing there gobsmacked. She had to smile despite the seriousness of the situation when she heard Ben say, "Snap outta it, man! Freakface's awaiting!"

Several seconds later Ranma heard muffled thumps and acoustic evidence that her reluctant comrades-in-arms were following her. Maybe those two would be good allies after all.

-.-

Ranma crawled silently and stealthily along the walls of what appeared to be a hallway held completely in black, steadily towards where she could feel the life energies of the Jackal and Spidercide. The hallway opened up ahead and led right to a heavily reinforced security door, and Ranma just waited long enough for Kaine and Ben to catch up before nodding, receiving twin nods back.

The aquatranssexual grit her teeth in anticipation at the thought of finally confronting one of the main perpetrators responsible for her sufferings and was about to kick down the door when a voice spoke up via some kind of intercom. _"Now, now, where are your manners? Kindly use the handle."_

Kaine and Ben exchanged a look. "Jackal," both said in unison.

Ranma didn't bother with a verbal reply and her lips compressing into a thin line she kicked as hard as she could, sending the heavy, reinforced steel door flying into the room behind. "My, so rude!" the Jackal's voice commented.

A previously hidden ki phasing into existence startled Ranma, the thought **'Oh fuck me sideways!'** going through her head.

"Saidaikyū Kijin Raishū Dan!" a female voice exclaimed from the adjacent room in a shout.

Shaken back to reality by the shout and the fact that born-and-bred vacuum blades were inbound Ranma crouched low, and using a skill she had seen used often enough in her time in Nerima to having it down pat as part of her own repertoire she used her right index finger to perform the Bakusai Tenketsu, tearing a sizeable hole into the ground.

Acting lightning quick her arms shot out and Ranma pulled Ben and Kaine down and through the hole into what appeared to be a storage room, debris and dust raining down on them. The vacuum blades could be heard passing by overhead, tearing through anything blocking their path.

"What the heck was that!" Ben demanded, his whole body tense.

"Some kind of... Energy attack!" Kaine exclaimed in a terse voice, "And an absolutely deadly one!"

**'Sym, full body insulation against her, up to the base of my neck. I won't take chances seeing what's at stake here,'** Ranma told her symbiote, **'And form the face mask if her fingers get even close to my head. Full defensive mode.'**

– _**Roger that, –**_ the symbiote confirmed and Ranma could feel her combat-suit forming underneath the YinYang Spider costume.

Back in the outward world Ranma said nothing as a glare formed on her masked face, her hands involuntarily balling into tight fists as she felt the ki that had before been suppressed. "He's done it again. I don't believe it," she snarled and turned to Ben and Kaine, "Change of plans. You two take Spidercide. I," she flexed her muscles and jumped upwards, "will be taking care of her. And Jackal."

Down below Kaine and Ben exchanged a look and quickly followed Ranma, Kaine demanding, "`Her´? Who's this `her´?" as soon as he stood by her side.

"The second most dangerous person in this complex," Ranma replied flatly from the crater edge, her posture conveying that she was incredibly focussed.

"Who's the most dangerous person?" Ben queried from where he was standing a few centimetres behind a bit to Ranma's right, tilting his head, "You?"

A dark aura surrounding Ranma for a second was Ben's answer, and Ranma confidently strode forward with her head held high. "Now now," she heard a male voice say just as she stepped into the room behind the door she had destroyed a few moments ago, "Why did you do that, my dear? I don't want my boys in pieces."

"It was a test to see if 'your boys' are worth their salt. They passed, barely," the same-self female alto from before retorted cockily, "But I can't deny that I wanted to test that bad copy of me, too, and I won't say sorry 'bout it, got it?"

"Of course, my dear. But now let us welcome our guests," the man that was Miles Warren said almost pleasantly.

Ranma's eyes narrowed as she took in the room and its occupants. The room itself turned out to be a large warehouse with highly polished silver-coloured tiles forming the flooring; sophisticated looking computer consoles and complex machinery was strategically placed around the room, and Ranma's tactical mind quickly switched from the room's layout to its occupants.

A pointy-eared green-skinned man of about 1.75 metres height dressed in a predominantly black outfit complete with black leather trenchcoat was standing in the middle of the room with a smug look on his face, flanked by Spidercide who was decked out in his red and blue costume and a full head taller and much more pumped up than the original Peter Parker ever was on his left and 'her' on the right.

Ranma's eyes immediately took on an icy quality as she stared at the man who had orchestrated much if not all of her suffering in New York, but she forced herself to stay calm as she studied the green-skinned man.

Miles Warren didn't look physically impressive at first sight, but his lithe built and sharp-looking claws suggested that he would make for a challenging opponent in close-quarter combat. For most, that is. Her gaze briefly flickered to Spidercide before coming to rest on her. Her clone. Or rather, yet another clone of her, probably. Clad in a black outfit that resembled the Chinese clothes she used to wear the other Ranma wore a cocky grin she knew all too well.

"Damn, it's no wonder Mousse, Ryoga and all the others wanted to wipe that grin from my face so much. It is mighty infuriating," Ranma commented levelly and pulled down her facemask, revealing an identical cocky grin, "Butcha know, you'll never get it right as you're naught but a cheap copy, girlie."

The other Ranma laughed mockingly. "That's rich coming from you, 'Ranma', especially when you consider that you are the test-tube baby, not me. Or should that be test-tube babe?" she asked disdainfully and smirked, "And what more evidence does the naked eye need? You're way taller than I ever was, which is mean by the way!"

"So sorry 'bout that, not. And if that's your only evidence then it's sorely lacking, clone-chan. I hit a growth spurt after I had left Ryker's and their less than optimal cuisine. Too bad cloning didn't do that for you, ne?" Ranma retorted calmly, and crossing her arms underneath her breasts she couldn't resist adding, "Midget."

Soft laughter emanated from the other Ranma that turned into full-blown laughter, and then she did something that made Ranma's world grind to a screeching halt. Without so much as the necessity of warm water she changed to male.

-.-

The now male Ranma stared at his female counterpart, his eyes shining with barely repressed amusement. "I gained control of the curse, my little clone-chan. How 'bout you? Still need water?"

**'How... How's this possible? He's a clone... He shouldn't be able to change!'** Ranma thought in utter bewilderment, shock written on her face.

– _**Do not let him get to you. The explanation why your clone is able to change genders is most likely that your Jusenkyo curse embedded the ability to change genders in your genes, enabling him to change without fluids. And that was reduplicated during the cloning process. **_

– _**But take note, his ki-paths, although more defined than when comparing Ben to Peter, are still less defined than yours. You are the original. Not him. Jackal is just playing mind games with you.**_

– _**Ask your clone what he is doing here, why he is working together with Jackal and Spidercide, –**_ Sym spoke up.

**'That's gonna teach me to cover my bases, I completely forgot to look at his ki-paths! Thanks for the pep talk and the help, Sym,'** Ranma retorted, a small smile unconsciously tugging at the edges of her lips.

– _**A tenant has to pay his rent, no? –**_ Sym retorted with a smile to her mental voice, prompting Ranma to return the mental smile.

"Nope. I change whenever I want to, it's just that I'm a little bit too... female at the moment, clone-kun," Ranma retorted levelly after the quick conversation with her symbiote, "Oh, and just out of interest," she added as the male Ranma tried to hide his disappointment at having failed to rile up his counterpart, "If you're the original, what are you doing here with the Jackal and his lap-dog, hmm?

"If you're Ranma Saotome, why haven't you beaten the crap out of him and handed him to the authorities? His virus killed thousands in Springville! Killed the weak the Art obliges us to protect! If you're Ranma, why are you still by his side?"

The male Ranma visibly faltered under the onslaught, prompting the Jackal to spread his arms in an obvious effort at distraction. "I invested much time and effort into you, my little clone," he said and stared at Ranma as if thinking intently, "Maybe you turned out a bit too perfect for your own good. Maybe it was a mistake to give you all the memories and skills of the original, but it was so... challenging! Invigorating! It made me feel alive! To create a perfect clone of such a fine specimen with such an unusual condition... It was my masterpiece! Even more so than creating a stable Parker clone.

"You, my sad little clone, were to take the fall so that Ranma here was free to aid me in my endeavour. The tournament was of course a ploy, and it was where the original, he," the geneticist pointed at the male Ranma, "was switched against you. A pre-programmed clone saw to it that the little Kuno girl got her jollies by seeing the 'red-haired harridan', you, thrown into jail, and Ranma here was free to help me."

**'That's a load he's shovelling there, who exactly does he think's gonna believe that?'** Ranma thought incredulous but kept her face neutral. "Help you with what?"

"Attain one of my goals, of course: to perfect the human species! Even your little clone-mind should be able to comprehend this, but I'll try to use small words just for you," the Jackal said condescendingly, "Your Art is to protect the weak, correct?"

"Yeah," Ranma replied curtly, her tone of voice communicating for the Jackal to get the hell to the point.

"So what if there were no weak? If everyone were able to protect themselves? If everyone were able to practise the Art to help others when they need it?" the Jackal queried and spread his arms in a pompous gesture, "Wouldn't that be perfection?"

Ranma was intrigued against her will. "And how would that come about?"

"You can't stop me anyway, so I'll humour you, little clone," the Jackal retorted magnanimously, "All my work in the field of genetics and cloning was for one reason: revenge. At first. I wanted to destroy Spider-Man for allowing Gwen to die. And I'd like to say I succeeded. He is nothing but a depressed wreck, uncertain of everything around him, and he always will be."

**'Feh. Too bad Pete ain't here, he'd laugh into your ugly, furred face before kicking your ass, jackalass,'** Ranma thought vindictively but remained outwardly impassive, **'They believe themselves superior to us and I'll let them in that belief. Yep, I'll let Warren ramble on to learn his plans and gauge if they're an immediate threat. Then Ben and Kaine can take on Spidercide while I deck my clone and wrap up Warren like a Christmas present. Meh, why must my thoughts always wander when it's that time of the month? Oh well, it's a good plan nonetheless.'**

Jackal had taken a breath and was looking decidedly self-satisfied. "But now that my goal has been accomplished I have dedicated my vast intellect to perfecting my cloning technique. I know it is ironic that I used my greatest foe and the man responsible for the death of my Gwen as a base, but dear Peter, Peter Parker also known as Spider-Man as I know you know, was just part of my creation. As my knowledge in the field of genetics expanded so did my ambition, and now, finally I have come far enough to realise my goal: world domination!"

"You poor, deluded fool!" Kaine spat derisively, "No one aside from Doctor Doom or maybe AIM or Hydra seriously dream of world domination!"

"Pains me to say it, but Kaine's got that right," Ben agreed, his voice sounding like he was being dragged through stinging nettles, "So what is it that you really want?"

Jackal sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do these small-minded fools doubt me, the genius? Must be because they're clones from a bad batch, wouldn't recognise genius if it bit them in their cloned butts," the mad geneticist muttered to himself before giving a weary-sounding sigh, "For the record and in simple words so that you dense folk comprehend what I say, when little Kodachi Kuno wanted a clone of Ranma Saotome so that she could frame the 'redhaired peasant girl' I did my homework.

"I found to my pleasure that Ranma here was a prime specimen with many extraordinary attributes, and his female form contributed splendidly to my creation. Ranma here does not possess super-powers per se, but his cells can be super-charged, and with enough life-energy or ki stored in them he is capable of extraordinary feats.

"Genius that I am I distilled the best of Peter and Ranma into a virus, that, when unleashed will make any man, woman and child better, and with a bit of my genes thrown into it and a bit of genetic tweaking I will be king of this world! United under my banner we won't have to fear aliens the likes of the Skrull, Kree and whatnot!" the man that was once Miles Warren shouted in triumph, fists raised into the air, "And soon, so very soon, my cloning technique will be perfect thanks to the samples I got! And then I'll finally realise a long-standing dream!"

**'I don't know what he's rambling about, and I don't know if I should feel dirty or just plain weirded out... a virus cooked up outta my and Pete's genes upgrading everyone and him as de facto ruler of the world... yup, he's bloody nuts, but what about...'** Ranma stopped herself short mentally when she realised that a new venue had opened up to her.

"Say 'Ranma', and you're okay with that? World domination, mutating people, cloning people against their will?" Ranma asked levelly and added in a sarcastic tone of voice, "I have my problems with all of the above, ethically, morally and in regards of the Art."

"No... You got it wrong. Warren's helping the people, helping them to help themselves. Sometimes people have to be dragged into the future, kicking and screaming. It's for their own good," the other Ranma retorted, but his tone of voice didn't sound too convinced of his own words to Ranma.

"And what you just said, that you're siding with Warren despite the fact that no Ranma Saotome would ever support something so wrong doesn't tell you that you cannot be the original Ranma?" the redhead queried with a sigh, her gaze sharpening until her blue eyes drilled into her clone, "Look, I'd never force something like getting mutated on anyone, 'cause what's with those that don't want to be 'protected'? They have a right not to-"

"Enough of this! Your attempts at confusing me won't work, clone," the male Ranma said decisively and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You tell her," the Jackal said approvingly and walked over to a man-sized pod.

Ranma, a bit disappointed that she had not got through to her clone, decided to press on nonetheless. "Then what about the Spidey clones that decomposed before my eyes just a few minutes ago? What was the master plan behind them?" she asked derisively, her blue eyes blazing with an inner fury, "All those lives wasted, how can you condone that if you're Ranma Saotome, huh?"

The clone visibly fumbled for words, fact that wasn't lost on the Jackal either. "I never kid myself into believing that there wouldn't be subjects that are immune to my virus. The Spider-clones were therefore planned as my enforcers who'd take care of said subjects," Jackal explained without batting a lash.

"Taking care, eh? Let's call a spade a spade and, repeat after me, kill!" Ben spat venomously.

"So what?" the Jackal retorted with a shrug, "You can't make an omelette without breaking an egg, my dear Ben. Especially not if you want to achieve your goals. Haven't you ever heard? Those who hesitate have already lost. And I don't make a habit of losing."

"You're insane!" Kane spat intently.

Jackal stopped to regard the first clone of Peter Parker. "Insane, you say? Is it insanity if were to tell you that I could cure your affliction?"

Kaine faltered for a moment before a look of cold fury appeared on his masked face. **'This is exactly what Ranma said he'd do! He'd really say and do anything to attain his ends, but this I swear, Warren, I will see you taken down!'**

"I conclude from your silence that I'm not so insane after all, eh?" Jackal mused smugly, his left hand resting on the glassy surface of the pod.

"The contrary, you fucker! Who'd believe a cowardly predator like you, someone who has raised lying, manipulating and deceiving to an art-form? Sure as hell not me!" Kaine hissed back heatedly.

**'Seems I got through to Kaine, thank Kami-sama!'** Ranma thought in relief, **'Fighting him too would've been a pain in the ass!'**

If Warren was affected by Kaine's words he didn't show it, limiting himself to a shrug. "Whatever. I don't care either way seeing as all of you will be dead shortly. Or do you really believe you have a chance at stopping my genius? Ranma here is superior to his little clone-chan in every aspect, especially after her stint in prison. Those little toys on her wrists won't change a thing.

"And my favourite son will be more than enough for the two of you, my dear Ben and Kaine. But before we dearly depart let me show you further proof for my genius!"

Everyone watched interested despite themselves as the green-skinned man brushed his left hand almost lovingly against the lid of the pod, and using the same-self hand he pulled it aside. "Soon I will have conquered death, and soon the pain that has festered in my heart for years will be gone! When my true love is reborn!"

"Oh my God!" Ben exclaimed in audible shock when recognition set in.

"Gwen Stacy!" Kaine whispered softly, his eyes wide.

Ranma looked at the blonde woman lying in the tank, wafts of smoke obscuring most of her figure, and Sym quickly supplied her with the pertinent facts as the Jackal continued to talk. "It has always been about you, my darling Gwen," he said softly, "Just about every action I've ever taken has been about bringing you back to me."

"This is insane!" Ben exclaimed, outrage tingeing his voice.

"Again with the insanity, Ben? How... unimaginative! Love isn't insane, nor are the actions I've taken. Peter's samples along with Ranma's will ensure that I'll never lose Gwen again, that no one will ever lose a loved one again! My virus is ready, my cloning technique almost flawless, soon I will rule over a world filled with a new and improved human race with Gwen by my side!" the Jackal exclaimed triumphantly, "There's just that one lose end, y-"

"Love?" Ranma interrupted in a hollow tone, raising her head from her seemingly contemplative silence, "You did it out of love? Then how do you explain Springville? How does that fit into the picture? All those people dead, thousands of innocents, because of your virus!"

The Jackal sighed and looked at Ranma in annoyance. "That was an accident. The virus was not as... well-engineered as I had hoped at that point. The bodies of the hosts were forced to undergo too many changes at once, killing them," and seeing Ranma's disbelieving expression he laughed, "What? Did you think I wanted to kill the world population and replace them with clones or something as inane? Only an unimaginative idiot would pursue a goal as stupid as that!"

Ranma exhaled heavily, her expression as black as thunder. "An accident! My God man, this is not comparable to a lab accident where a student drops a Bunsen burner! You killed thousands! What will Gwen say when she finds out that you became a mass murderer? You think she'll be anything but disgusted?" she demanded heatedly, and downright hissed, "You think she'll approve of you ruining my life, of throwing me to the dogs?

"But what would you care seeing as you can program her mind any way you want to, eh?" Ranma sneered after taking a deep breath, "True love, tell me another one."

The Jackal's face cycled through a myriad of emotions ranging from fear to rage to uncertainty, finally settling on annoyance. "Alas, it is abundantly clear that your feeble mind cannot comprehend true love. And as you are going to be difficult, so sadly, the time for talk has passed-"

"Agreed."

That one word uttered Ranma had already blurred into motion before the Jackal had even finished the sentence, and as suggested by Sym the redhead focussed on disabling the gobsmacked Warren first to prevent him from getting away.

Quicker than anyone was able to react she had descended upon the mad geneticist with her fingers outstretched, and using much more force than necessary Ranma used every ounce of knowledge she had in the art of pressure points to paralyse the madman responsible for her nightmare.

"I wanted to learn why you killed thousands and why you ruined my life before giving you your just desserts, wanted to see if there's any justification in there, however absurd. Something to explain this madness.

"But it is as I expected: there is no justification, no explanation. Just the selfishness of a man who sought to play God. All to make a perfect copy of the woman who was killed by the Green Goblin to spite Peter. All to achieve world domination! You disgust me!" Ranma snarled, her hands balling into tight fists which she pressed into her sides as soon as she had finished upping the pressure on the Jackal.

The symbiote host felt lightning quick fingers press into nerve clusters on her back just as Miles Warren crumpled to the ground with a cry of surprise, but his grimace of pain transformed into a pained smile. "It is sad how quick the tables can turn against you, isn't it? Ranma, take care of her and undo what this ignorant little bitch did to me.

"What would a small-minded clone like her know about true love anyway?"

Jackal's expectant expression turned to one of horror when he saw the supposedly immobile redhead whirl around at lightning speed, and his attempt at shouting a warning came too late. Ranma's right hook sent the gobsmacked male Ranma through the ceiling like a shot, and the redhead paused only to narrow her eyes at Kaine and Ben who had watched the going ons with mute shock, debris and parts of the roof raining down on them.

Turning back toward Warren she just took the time to pick him up and ram him into the tiled wall so hard he was embedded into it, hissing, "I'll show you small-minded, fuckwad! You'll regret underestimating me, and you'll pay for what you did to me!"

The redhead was far too focussed on disabling the man responsible for her suffering for later retrieval to enjoy the sounds of pain escaping him, and pulling back Ranma webbed Warren to the wall, just leaving his head free. "You were arrogant to just deem yourself superior, Warren. And to believe that I hadn't improved in the last months was the height of stupidity! After all, I'm Ranma, and I don't lose!"

"Spidercide..." Warren managed to ground out, "Do something!"

The third Parker clone showed movement for the first time since Ranma, Ben and Kaine had invaded the lab, making the trio focus on him. "Do something, you say?" the spider-powered man said in a thoughtful tone that had a decidedly malevolent undercurrent, "Something like that?" he asked mockingly and formed his hands into a single gigantic mace with long spikes, "But I'm afraid that this is just for you, daddy dearest, and let me pass along from Scrier how disappointed he is in you. Oh, and I so hate to break this to you, but it's dying time!"

Spidercide leapt forward with obvious intent, but a blur slamming into him hard feet-first in a double-footed blow sent the clone crashing into a far wall hard enough to embed him in it. "Enough lazing around, slackers!" Ranma exclaimed in a tone like a drill sergeant towards the surprised Ben and Kaine who had been stumped by this turn of events, "And as odd as it sounds, I need Warren alive to prove my innocence. Protect him from Spidercide until I return!"

Ben and Kaine exchanged glances, but seeing as Ranma's actions up till now had garnered both men's respect they turned to face their wayward 'brother', immediately engaging him in combat, driving him away from Warren.

Ranma, a bit surprised that the clones of Peter would aid her so easily didn't feel like looking a gift horse in the mouth, and a mean glint entering her eyes she fired her webbing once more, webbing the Jackal's mouth shut, commenting, "You've spouted enough garbage, Jackalass! I'll deal with you later. Now I gotta show a little clone that there can be only one!"

Just stopping to punch Warren's lights out and leaving a tracer on him just in case Ranma whirled around to see Kaine and Ben circling Spidercide. "Stop dancing around and squash him! Now!"

That said Ranma jumped through the hole her clone had created on his involuntary exit, leaving Kaine and Ben to take care of the shapeshifting menace, her face-mask forming around her head upon a mental command.

-.-

Ranma felt the exhilarating feeling of adrenaline rushing through her body and blood pumping in her ears as her jump carried her upwards and through the ceiling the trajectory of her clone's body had broken. Landing nimbly in the courtyard she let her senses make a sweep of the area, and twisted her upper body to the side as she caught the ki fading in just behind her, making the strike miss.

Turning on the sole of her left feet like liquid lightning she whirled around and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, but the other Ranma performed a backwards somersault that carried him over the tall security fence surrounding the plant.

Not wasting a second Ranma jumped after her clone, and after touching down on the street with her left foot she immediately pushed off and jumped upwards, clashing with the male Ranma in mid-air. Her right leg lashed out the same moment the clone's left leg lashed out, and a flurry of follow-up punches and kicks were traded, each respectively and easily blocked by the combatants until they had reached solid ground again.

Ranma landed first, but both combatants launched Moko Takabisha doubles at each other at the same time, the attacks cancelling each other out in a mighty explosion of light and concussive force that rattled the windows in a radius of several kilometres.

But Ranma had planned ahead as usual, and using her clone's distraction stemming from a stealthy jet-black symbiote tendril she had sent out the moment she had fired her energy attack yanking the clone's left foot to cup her hands to her side she released a Moko Takabisha double at almost point blank range.

Due to the massive amount of ki in the attack it was of enormous proportions and power and had the effect Ranma had intended, namely stunning her opponent long enough to gain an advantage. Blurring forward she launched a roundhouse kick right for the male Ranma's head, but he had recovered remarkably fast, blocking the kick with a double-armed cross-block.

Ranma had reacted lightning quick, using the other Ranma's arms to backflip. The redhead had never been so glad that Sym had tweaked her body to reach its full potential seemingly so long ago as it almost put her on par with her clone's slightly greater reach, at least so much so that it didn't grant her clone an advantage.

Blurring forward at a speed much greater than her clone's she pressed the attack, adhered to the street's surface with her left hand and kicked out with her right leg. The clone narrowly avoided the leg sweep by jumping over it, but Ranma had already backflipped into an offensive stance using her great strength.

"I am stronger and faster than you, give up," she said matter-of-factly, her aggressive stance never wavering.

A cocky grin replaced the focussed expression on the clone's face. "You must be delusional, clone-chan. I have a female form too, remember? And my male form has always been stronger if a little slower than my female form, so it stands to reason that it is the same for you. Besides, I'm Ranma Saotome, I don't lose!"

"Is that so? Then come and let's find out!" Ranma yelled and launched herself forward in a head on attack with her right fist lashing out, the clone mirroring her.

Both fists met with a resounding boom that destroyed windows in a two-kilometre radius, and both combatants were thrown backwards by the force behind the respective blows. Only that the male Ranma was sent flying at least three-hundred metres backwards until his flight was abruptly stopped by a red clinkered housewall while the original stopped her involuntary flight after a good hundred metres by dragging her boots along the pavement, leaving twin trenches about twenty metres long.

"That was fun!" Ranma grinned and ran forward in a blur, noting absently that their fight was attracting spectators in form of dwellers whose windows had been destroyed by their most recent clash.

The other Ranma had extracted himself from the housewall in the meantime and, after cracking his neck, quickly came at the original with a high kick that she blocked just as easily as the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken attack he threw in as a follow up.

Ranma's eyes lit up when she saw her clone wince due to the fact that she had blocked all of his blows but had managed to land some blows of her own, and falling back on an advanced high-speed kata she had trained in with Happosai before Felicia had left for Nerima she dropped to a squat so fast she was little more than a blur and kicked upwards, her feet meeting the clone's gut.

The impact sent the male Ranma stumbling backwards and Ranma was already in motion, jumping to a high kick out of the roll, the heel of her left foot meeting her double's face. While the clone was spitting blood and fighting his disorientation Ranma used her speed to slip behind her double, using the Amaguriken to jab his kidneys with just enough force so as not to be lethal.

The clone spun around to face her, bloody foam forming at his mouth, and Ranma blocked a high kick with a high block courtesy of her left arm before blocking a low kick with her right leg. The palm of her right hand stopped the right-handed punch from breaking her nose, and batting the follow-up punch to the side she lashed out with a finger-strike to the throat, sealing the clone's windpipe reflexively shut.

But even as the male Ranma was gasping for breath he was still far from out of the fight and somersaulted backwards, but a lightning quick kick from the female original caught him in the gut and sent him crashing into a housewall.

– _**Very good, Ranma. He is not familiar with this kata as it is not part of his memories, and he cannot adapt fast enough. Keep this up and victory is ours, –**_ Sym spoke up.

**'Thanks. Now to press our advantage,'** Ranma replied, her game-face back in place, and a burst of speed brought her to in front of her clone who had just got to his feet.

"So much for your theory, clone-kun! And, how did you like the new kata? Isn't it a blast?" she taunted her clone but started in surprise when the other Ranma blurred forward and dropped into a low combo ending in a hard, fast sweep that the original barely avoided. **'Shit, gotta concentrate! He's as good as me at recovering, I haven't bagged this fight until it's over!'**

– _**So good of you to arrive at this conclusion. Now follow your own advice and fucking concentrate already! – **_Sym sneered derisively.

**'I appreciate your crude attempt at motivating me, but it's not needed!' **Ranma retorted strongly and narrowly leapt over a leg sweep, her retaliatory attempt at a throw being blocked by her double.

Performing a backwards somersault the other Ranma turned female in midair before shooting a Moko Takabisha at the original and blurring forward in a burst of speed. **'So she hopes to gain the upper hand by becoming faster!'** Ranma thought.

– _**Ranma, try something new this time! –**_ Sym spoke up urgently, her tone of voice suggesting that she had had a flash of inspiration, _**– She is your clone, meaning that her life energy is the same! So instead of blocking the ki-blast take it into yourself and use it to send it back at her, backed with your own ki! –**_

**'Should it work I'll admit that you're a genius, Sym,'** Ranma replied, and hunching over to brace herself for impact she prepared herself, **'If not we can only hope that my healing factor's fast enough to keep us in play.'**

The Moko Takabisha impacting pre-empted Sym's reply, and acting lightning quick Ranma channelled the ki through her body. Following their plan the symbiote host added her own ki to the forming blast, and yelling loudly a massive Moko Takabisha was launched from Ranma's hands, hitting the charging clone right in the chest.

The velocity of the blast carried the surprised clone almost two hundred metres before exploding violently, and once the smoke had cleared from the explosion a singed and battered clone could be seen sitting in her own personal crater, coughing up blood.

**'Colour me impressed, Sym. But it only worked 'cause he changed into a she, otherwise I'd probably have burned out my ki-paths due to the incompatibly between male and female ki,'** Ranma commented, her face scrunched up in contemplation.

– _**You are finally learning to use that thing between your ears as more than a placeholder. I am impressed, –**_ Sym teased and smiled when Ranma blew her a mental raspberry, _**– Your analysis was spot on, though. There is just one thing: where is your admittance that I am a genius? –**_

**'Okay, honour to whom honour is due and all that shit. Sym, you're a genius. There, happy? Good! Now to end this,'** Ranma thought back, and her face settling into a look of grim determination she shot forward, but a brow climbed into the hairline involuntarily when she saw her clone getting back to her feet, prompting the redhead to think, **'Damn, she's as tough as me!'**

The respect she felt for her almost twin didn't prevent her from descending on the clone like a fury, and a hard punch to the head sent the ailing clone stumbling backwards, giving the original the opportunity to slip behind her double, her quick fingers pressing into nerve clusters. A sigh of accomplishment escaped the original when her double dropped to the ground, her legs having given out under her.

– _**You have won the fight, but you might want to utilise a psychological component as well. The effect caused by your double implanting the chip was apparently nothing more than an intermenstrual bleeding, so, feel free to change to male at any time as it has passed, –**_ Sym advised.

**'Sym, I could kiss you!'** Ranma thought back with fierce happiness, and returning her focus back to the outward world she watched her clone battle the effects of the 'jello-legs pressure point'.

– _**Would he say the same were he to know that the fight was all him without me augmenting him? Maybe I will tell him in a quiet moment, –**_ Sym thought to himself and allowed himself a chuckle at how cunning he was.

"I can not... I will not lose!" the clone yelled in defiance as she tried in vain to get to her feet, "I am Ranma Saotome, and I don't lose!"

Ranma sighed sadly, and removing her face-mask she turned male, eliciting gasps from the crowd they had attracted. "No, you're not. But sadly I've only come up with one way to prove it, and that is to remove your programming. And that's gonna be a pain in the ass!" he muttered and walked up to his clone, and kneeling down by the other Ranma's side he ignored the woman's struggling and pressed several pressure points that when used in conjunction were called the 'paralysis points'.

As soon as he was done the clone slumped into unconsciousness and came to lay insensate on the street, a sigh escaping Ranma's lips. "He was good, but I don't lose," he whispered to himself.

Ranma cracked his neck and popped his joints as he felt the dwellers that had watched the fight slowly leaving their houses now that the fight was over, and after a quick mental debate with Sym he decided to stay and see what they had to say and if he could benefit from the exchange in the upcoming trial.

"Who... Who are you?" an Afro-American man in his fifties finally asked tentatively, but turning to face the man Ranma could see curiosity shining in his eyes, "He... She," the man pointed at the unconscious clone, "called herself Ranma Saotome, the one who was this 'Ronin Ranko' except that she was not, so she was declared innocent posthumously because of a clone having committed the crimes, and you called yourself Ranma as well. But isn't Ranma Saotome, the one called 'Ronin Ranko', dead? How can you be her? What's going on?"

Agreeing murmurs and comments originated from other witnesses, prompting Ranma to pinch the bridge of his nose, but Sym commenting that this could be a great way to clear things up he began to speak. "I have to speak verbosely to give you all the background information you'll need to understand what's going on.

"You see, I was born in Japan roughly twenty years ago, the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome. Ranma Saotome, the one you came to know as 'Ronin Ranko'. Only that my mother, as Clan leader, renounced me, so I'm just Ranma.

"As you can see, I survived the fall when I fled prison. How? I trained in the Martial Arts all my life, hence the 'show' you saw me and my clone here put on. Falls like that from Ryker's Island are child's play for me, I survived things like that when I was ten. Afterwards I laid low to get leads on who made my life hell and why. With no one believing my story, even my so called family and friends," the last part was uttered with utter distaste, "I'd have been thrown back into jail faster than I could've blinked had I revealed myself. That I couldn't risk and set out on my own.

"As for how this all happened, I was invited to a tournament taking place here because of my skills last year, or so I thought. Turned out it was a trap, but I assume that much you know from the spreads in the papers. A clone had replaced me, much like the one over there," he pointed at his unconscious female double, "only one programmed to kill anyone who hit on her. Her? Yeah, her.

"In the course of the training journey my father and I visited the grounds of a supposedly legendary training place, the valley of Jusenkyo in the Bayankala mountain range in the Quinghai province, China. There were and are hundreds of pools littering the place, each one highly magical. As you all know Dr Strange and other magic users we can all agree that magic exists, right?"

Receiving agreeing nods and murmurs Ranma nodded himself and took a deep breath. "Only we didn't know at the time that these pools were magical and merrily sparred. At sixteen I was already better than my father, so I managed to knock him into one of the pools, and I waited for him to re-emerge. Can you imagine my surprise and shock when a giant panda leapt out of the pool?" he asked rhetorically and nodded after taking a look at the people surrounding him, "Yeah, that's the way I reacted too, even though I know most of you are looking like this 'cause you're thinking I have a lot of loose screws."

This comment caused a lot of chuckles and snorts, and Ranma smiled despite himself. "Anyway, I was so surprised that my guard was nonexistent, and the panda punched me right into another pool. Only I emerged looking close to this," he said and turned female, eliciting gasps and similar exclamations of shock, "This is not a mutant ability as the prosecutor claimed at my trial, those curses are real, and Dr Strange can vouch for that."

"You know Dr Strange?" a blonde female Caucasian in her thirties interjected and almost bounced up and down in excitement, "What's he like? Is he as dreamy as he looks from afar?"

"To answer your first question, yeah, I know him. I've been fighting crime ever since I was declared dead 'cause I can't just kick back while I could be making a difference. I've fought alongside Spider-Man, the Black Spider, Scarlet Widow, Dr Strange and others. But it was Spider-Man who gave me those webshooters," Ranma explained and pointed at his wrists, shooting a line of webbing from the underside of his right wrist at a nearby site fence, "and I dare say his generosity helped save many lives. It helped me set up this identity, too."

"The YinYang Spider," another man said with a nod.

"Yes, although I fought anonymously in the beginning. Later the papers came up with that denomination 'cause of this symbol," she explained and pointed at the symbol in question," As for your other questions, ma'am, Dr Strange's mysterious and decidedly handsome," she mused, her expression thoughtful, "And a good friend. He helped me gain control over my affliction, made it so that I can change genders at will. Like this," she said, and demonstrated said fact by changing to male.

"So what are you? Male or female?" an attractive Afro-American woman in her thirties wanted to know.

Ranma paused and pretended to ponder the question for a moment. "It took me a good long while to realise this, but I had more than enough time to think while in jail," he said, and he was elated to see sympathetic nods from the crowd, "You know, the change is complete, physically and mentally, and I realised that I would have destroyed myself had I kept fighting the 'curse'. And so I came to the conclusion that I'm male when male, and female when female. It was either adapt or go crazy and die, and this was undoubtedly the better option, wouldn't you agree?"

Agreeing murmurs and gestures came from the majority of the crowd, but some were looking undecided. A Caucasian man in his forties dressed like a businessman in a navy blue suit spoke up thoughtfully. "I'm conflicted on that. I was born a man, have lived as a man and want to die as a man."

Ranma nodded, his expression mirthless. "I used to think the same, fought the 'curse' tooth and nail all the time. But it was at the same cursed training grounds, after one of the toughest fights of my life that I realised I had stopped caring about it somewhere along the line. Three years of living like this had made me realise that my female half had become a part of me.

"Then, shortly afterwards, I came here, was framed and thrown into jail. It was here that I was confronted with living as a female 24/7, for seven months. And everything resurfaced, all my fears. They had taken away my balance, and I almost went crazy. But I had too much to live for to just give up.

"First it was proving my innocence and getting revenge on whoever framed me, then I found my life partner, and I love her more than words can say. And now this nightmare is almost over, all that is left is to hope that I get a fair trial this time around," he said, and a genuine smile bloomed on his face.

"I can't even begin to imagine..." the businessman from before whispered to himself with his head bowed in thoughtful contemplation, and raising his head to look at Ranma with a strong look in his brown eyes he added, "But I think I understand, even if only a little. I am John Clark, and you have my respect, not just for what the papers wrote about your accomplishments in Japan, and I'll gladly testify to what I have seen today."

Other bystanders murmured their assent, but a woman clearing her throat prompted Ranma to turn his head around, and he was surprised when he recognised her as the woman he had saved from rapists seemingly a life-time ago. "I am Susan Hart, attorney-at-law, and I'd say your chances at getting a just trial for a change are good. I admit I am fascinated by your story, even more so due to your association with Scarlet Widow. You know, she saved me from rapists a while ago, and you, her partner being none other than Ranma Saotome-"

"Just Ranma," the symbiote host interrupted softly but sternly, "As said, my former mother, Nodoka Saotome, saw to it that I'll never be a Saotome again."

"I'm sorry. I must seem like an insensitive twit. And here I remember having read about that in your trial report," Susan Hart muttered and shook her head, "But I didn't attach much importance to this point as just reading through your trial made my blood boil. It was nothing but a disgrace for our juridical system and like a slap in the face!"

"Yeah, the mother of all slaps, you got that right," Ranma said humourlessly, only for a smile to bloom on his face, "And no worries, Miss Hart. The cultural characteristics of Japan are hardly part of the curriculum at school or at law school now, are they?"

Susan Hart reciprocated the smile and inclined her head. "Thanks for your understanding."

"Welcome," Ranma retorted and turned his head when someone coughed.

"So let me sum this up," a young Caucasian man in his twens spoke up, "You were set up, framed and thrown into jail. You somehow escaped and joined the local super-hero community, biding your time. That correct?"

"Yeah," Ranma replied, wondering where this was going.

"And how were you able to do this without super powers or mutant abilities?" the same young man asked levelly, "We all saw you and your... clone do incredible things. Things you just cannot do without either of the above mentioned."

Ranma almost smiled despite himself, somewhat relieved that the man didn't seem to be a mutant hater. "I see, a demonstration, eh?" he mused and almost sighed, "Okay, where to begin? I already said that I have trained all my life, practically since the day I could walk. I have trained in countless styles, hold mastery in at least six of them and can hold my own in a multitude of others.

"I have also learned to harness my ki and reiki, the physical and spiritual energies of the body," he listed and flared his ki around his body, creating a torch-like flame for demonstration purposes which he let die down after a few seconds, "This makes me super-strong," and walking over to a parked UPS truck Ranma estimated to weigh ten tons he bent down and lifted it with his right hand until it was about forty centimetres above ground, "super fast," in the blink of an eye he had sat the truck down and moved to a spot on a street light two hundred metres away from the light truck, "as agile as Spider-Man if not even more so," he somersaulted from up high and performed several acrobatic manoeuvres before landing nimbly on the ground, "and very impervious to damage. You could bury me in a pool of concrete and drop a skyscraper on me and it would barely slow me down."

"The strange thing is, I don't doubt that," the same Afro-American man from before said with a chuckle, eliciting a confident smile on Ranma's face.

"Then there's this. Does anyone mind if I were to... damage this abandoned building over there?" Ranma asked the already stunned crowd, pointing his right index finger towards a run-down looking detached three story house.

"It is marked for demolition, so go ahead," Susan Hart spoke up, "If anyone bitches I'll take the blame."

"Thank you," Ranma said with an inclination of his head and looked up at the building, "But first things first. What would you guys say? That about ten metres in height? Maybe twelve to fifteen?"

"More like fifteen," a balding Caucasian man in his sixties said from the group.

"Good. Take note," Ranma retorted, tensed his muscles and jumped, his jump taking him straight to the gable. He had to adjust his footing to keep from falling through the rotten tiles, and once he was sure of his footing he looked down. The situation was pretty much what he had expected, gaping mouths and astonished faces all around. In spite of the overall situation it brought a smile to his face as it had been ages since he had been able to showcase his hard-earned skills.

Just as the incredulous comments started Ranma tensed his muscles again and jumped down, landing easily and nimbly. "You see, surviving the fall from Ryker's roof was child's play for me. My ki, my life energy ensured that I came to no harm."

"Ki?" a redheaded woman with long, flowing hair in her mid-thirties clad in a pin-striped black suit asked curiously.

Ranma smiled and switched into what he had dubbed teacher mode. "Every living being has ki and reiki, life energy and spiritual energy. Ki users like me have learned to harness their life force, enabling them to perform spectacular feats. Just like the one you just saw me do. Ki can be used to make your body stronger, faster, more durable and so on. It can also be wielded as a weapon," he explained and formed a Moko Takabisha in the palm of his left hand.

The raven-haired young man moved his hands about slowly so that everyone could see the ki-blast, and once this had been accomplished he turned around. "This is concentrated life energy, also known as a ki-blast. It does as the name suggests," and flinging the ball of ki at the housewall of the derelict house a good fifty metres away he had used from demonstration purposes before watched it fly like his audience, but in contrast to them he wasn't surprised when the ki-blast detonated with force, tearing massive chunks out of the housewall and leaving a gaping hole, debris and stone fragments raining to the ground, "blasts anything in its way to bits.

"I have attacks based on ki that are a lot more destructive and deadly, the Moko Takabisha double," a ki-blast formed in each palm, "the vacuum blades," one ethereal blade of ki formed like the ki-blasts before, "and an attack that creates a tornado of life energy. I cannot and will not demonstrate the latter two as they are incredibly destructive, dangerous and deadly, but there's one more move I can demonstrate. Maybe two."

The audience waited with bated breath and watched Ranma walk until he had reached the derelict house, but many – if not all – were surprised when he just held out his right index finger in front of him. A shout of "Bakusai Tenketsu!" rang through the area moments thereafter, and shocked exclamations and shouts reached Ranma's ears when the whole front wall collapsed due to the destructive move.

The destruction didn't stop there, though, as the shock of the Breaking Point technique travelled through the whole, desolate building, and about ten seconds after the initial actuator had initiated the chain reaction the building dropped like a house of cards. Right on top of Ranma, who made no move to get to safety.

– _**This is an incredibly stupid thing you are doing, you know that, right? –**_ Sym's annoyed voice spoke up in Ranma's mind just as the house began to fall apart around their ears, the symbiote reforming the face-mask to ensure maximum protection.

**'So? That's nothing new for me, ne?'** Ranma thought back and raised his ki output to harden his body to its maximum while flaring his aura to burn any debris falling on him, **'Besides, it's a great exercise!'**

– _**Your father must have knocked loose a few too many screws over the years, –**_ Sym said with a long-suffering sigh, _**– Why do I put up with you again? –**_

**'Probably 'cause I'm a source of never ending entertainment, and you love me?'** Ranma retorted cockily.

– _**Yeah, right, –**_ Sym grunted sarcastically, _**– You are impossible, but I suppose it is your unpredictability that makes life with you so... interesting. –**_

**'See? I said you love me,'** Ranma sent back with a large, cocky grin.

– _**Shut up and extract yourself from this heap of rubble. The collapse of the building is complete, –**_ Sym ground out.

**'Your will is my command, o great symbioteness,'** Ranma retorted in the same cocky tone as before, and guided by a sudden stroke of inspiration he used the Soul of Ice to freeze the surrounding rubble solid. Then he paused to grin and used a continuous beam of life energy to create a hole, and once finished he willed the face-mask of his head and simply jumped upwards.

-.-

The grin never leaving his face Ranma landed a good twenty metres away from a stunned crowd, and nonchalantly walking towards them he couldn't resist saying, "You people look like you've seen a ghost."

"What was... that?" Susan Hart finally said, having found her voice first.

"Oh, that? The first move I used is called the 'Breaking Point' technique. It is a move designed to shatter rock, and other assorted inanimate objects with a single touch. Yes, you guys heard right, inanimate," Ranma explained and could see the looks of relief, "The other move I used is the 'Soul of Ice', hence the beautifully sparkling heap of rubble. You see, I can cool down my surroundings with this nifty li'l technique. What I did was essentially freezing the debris, then I used my ki to burrow a tunnel and jumped out.

"As you guys have seen, no super powers, no mutant powers, just skills and abilities gained through years upon years of hard work. My control over my ki is so great that I can even mimic Spider-Man's powers, hence why I became the YinYang Spider, or so they called me. Even in spite of what happened to me, I could never sit back and do nothing while there's still people to protect," Ranma said with conviction and clapped his hands, "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's still a few loose ends to wrap up before I give myself up to the authorities."

"Like what?" a man of Asian origin wanted to know.

"Picking up my clone, for one," Ranma retorted and did just that, throwing her over his left shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "And I've gotta go look how two friends of mine are holding up against their wayward brother, and I need to pick up the perpetrator of my life coming down around my ears too. So lots to do and so little time. Apropos time, thanks for your time and sorry for any inconvenience caused, guys. Bye!"

Various exclamations, almost all of them well-meaning, reached his ears as Ranma jumped upward and fired his webbing, and quickly changing course while thinking, **'I wonder how Kaine and Ben have held up,'** the former Saotome was on his way back to the plant.

-.-

For the first time since his nightmare had begun seemingly a lifetime ago Ranma allowed himself to feel hope in regards of clearing his name. The hesitant smile forming on his face grew but was quickly suppressed. **'Don't shout until you're out of the woods, Ranma,'** the young man thought to himself, his face scrunching up as his mind returned to all the strange turns his life had taken up till now.

Forcefully shaking himself out of his reverie Ranma concentrated on the present, a focused expression appearing on his face as the wind rushed past him. His senses checked on his cargo almost involuntarily, confirming that his clone was still in the land of Nod and would be for a few hours yet.

Getting back to the plant didn't take more than three minutes, and neither Ranma nor his symbiote spoke a word, their usual banter absent due to the anxiety and sense of expectation which filled them. _**– Ben mentioned in passing that he had used the front door, –**_ Sym spoke up breaking the silence as soon as the plant came into their line of vision, _**– Doing the same will save us time. Oh, and you should change your gender. Kaine and Ben saw you taking off as female and your clone as male. Can you imagine the conclusions they will draw? –**_

**'Good idea what with taking the shortcut, but fuck the conclusions they'll draw, Sym. I feel like being a man right now,'** Ranma responded in a tone that communicated he would not budge and changed course away from the smokestack he had used to enter the complex before.

– _**If you are sure. Just do not come complaining afterwards, –**_ Sym retorted a bit petulantly.

**'There won't be an afterwards. Once they notice me I'll show them my clone, point out that she's way smaller than me, change to female and back and that's that,'** Ranma retorted in the breast-note of confidence.

– _**As said, –**_

**'Yadda yadda, gotcha, Sym,'** Ranma replied airily, waving Sym's objections aside.

Once he had reached the front door Ranma could not help but whistle. "Colour me impressed. Ben somehow tricked the security system. Weeell, seeing as the b&e part's already over and done with," he paused, grinned and reared back his right leg and delivered a kick with the sole of his boot.

The heavy security door was sent flying inwards from the blow, severely dented, and Ranma lowered his leg again, a pleased expression appearing on his face when he heard the door impact something far away with a dull thud, "Nothing beats a bit of well measured violence," he muttered to himself.

– _**If only you would indulge in it more often, –**_ Sym sighed wistfully.

**'Love you too, Sym,'** Ranma replied with a cheeky mental grin, receiving what amounted to a raspberry from his symbiote.

Repositioning the clone on his shoulder Ranma's face turned serious, and due to the unknown situation ahead he followed Sym's advice and cloaked himself. Blurring forward he soon reached familiar territory, passing the room where they had confronted the clones with a look of distaste on his face and finally reaching the warehouse.

Quickly taking in the situation he found that the battle between Kaine, Ben and Spidercide was still in full swing with the latter using his shapeshifting skills to keep the numerical superiority of his foes from being decisive.

**'Damn, so my idea to nail Freakface with extra fluid web didn't work out,'** he thought with furrowed brows as his gaze swept over the webbing-riddled lab, but turned his head away from the fight when he noticed that Warren was still webbed to the wall, just as expected. What he didn't expect were four miniature versions of the Jackal using their claws in an effort at getting their 'big brother' out of his predicament with next to no success. Fact that obviously infuriated the original.

**'Clones, clones and more clones. I'm sick and tired of it!'** Ranma thought viciously and faded back into the visual spectrum. Two Moko Takabisha doubles in quick succession made short work of the Jackal clones, and stepping up to the surprised and suddenly fearful Miles Warren Ranma's face darkened. Ben and Kaine, having noticed the demise of the mini-Jackal's at Ranma's hands due to the sudden noise, stopped their assault.

Pointing at his clone Ranma yelled, "It's me, my lock's worn off, so don't stop on my account," he said and quickly changed to female to showcase the differences between her and the clone, "And now beat your own wayward clone!"

"Yep, it's her. Or him, as it is. Whatever. Still as bossy as ever, though," commented Ben.

"Less talk and more fight, O'Hara," Kaine barbed and turned his sights back on Spidercide.

"Ouch! Low blow," Ben muttered before following his 'brother's' example.

Changing back with a chuckle Ranma was glad to note that his plan had come together seeing as Kaine and Ben exchanged glances and identical shrugs and laid into Spidercide again. Turning around Ranma walked slowly and deliberately towards Miles Warren, his eyes glinting coldly. "You're right to fear me, Warren. My clone couldn't beat me, you couldn't beat me. Your plan has failed! I'll so gladly give you your just desserts, but first business, then pleasure. I'll be back shortly, then you'll have my full attention."

Turning away from a nervous looking Jackal Ranma propped up his unconscious clone against the wall a good metre away from the Jackal and webbed her up like a Christmas present. Nodding to himself at a wrap-up job well done the martial artist turned anti-hero swivelled his head to look at the fight that was trashing the warehouse turned lab, and shaking his head with a sigh Ranma muttered, "I guess there's only one way to beat him, but fuck that's gonna get gross."

Steeling his resolve and balling his fists Ranma let Sym form a face-mask in his pocket which he retrieved and donned, and laughing mockingly he shouted, "You're a sad little freakshow, Freakface! Can't even deal with two little spiders! What a joke!"

No one noticed the temperature dropping ever so slowly seeing as Kaine and Ben were reacting surprised that Ranma was interrupting their battle by insulting their opponent, but said opponent was literally seeing red. "Freakshow, eh? Fool, this Freakshow's gonna show you whose the real spider, you cheap imitation!"

Kaine and Ben forgotten Spidercide launched himself forward and fired his webbing from his left hand, expecting to ensnare the upstart with his webbing. His surprise at Ranma phasing out of the way and yanking the string of webbing hard cost him as Spidercide could not react quickly enough to compensate, and his thoughts circling around the how the third Parker clone felt himself getting flung into an aggregation of machines.

All of that had happened so fast that Spidercide hadn't even been able to shapeshift, resulting in the clone flying headfirst into the machines. A bright golden sparkling flash emitted from the destroyed apparatuses, and while Spidercide was distracted Ranma beckoned Kaine and Ben to watch over his clone and the Jackal, deliberately leaving himself wide open by keeping his head turned towards the first and second clone of Peter Parker.

Spidercide used his apparent distraction just as Ranma had expected, and with a shout of satisfaction the shapeshifter enveloped him in a cocoon of water in an apparent effort to drown him, incidentally triggering the change. A cold smirk grew on Ranma's face much to the surprise of the gloating Spidercide, and the only warning the third Parker clone got was his prisoner tensing her body, her hands balling to fists, and then he felt nothing but blinding pain as his whole world was frozen from the inside out in seconds.

Seeing Ranma's predicament and thinking ahead Kaine looked around, and his eyes lighting up behind his face-mask the clone of Peter Parker used his powers to clear the room in a strong leap, coming to stop in front of something that looked like a large, empty quadratic bathtub of four by four metres held in shiny, polished metal.

Shrugging to himself Kaine ripped the tub from its holdings and held it in his right hand, and tensing his muscles he carefully gauged the distance and jumped, coming to halt in front of the statuesque Ranma and Spidercide. Grinning to himself Kaine placed the bathtub on the ground and grabbed the sparkling statue next, depositing the frozen duo in the tub.

Ben, who had watched Kaine's actions with an air of confusion at first couldn't help but mutter, "He's really a Parker. That was a good idea."

If Kaine heard him he didn't react in any visible way, and taking a few steps back the man crossed his arms across his chest and watched. Warren, who had seen everything as well from his spot at the wall didn't know if he should feel elation or not seeing as his murderous and murdering pet project had been stopped, and so spectacularly to boot, but he, like the others, could not take his eyes away.

And then it started. Soft noises like ice cracking began to emanate from the statue, and quickly spider-web like cracks spread over the whole surface. Then, with an almighty muffled crack the statue broke apart and fell into the tub in pieces, revealing a smiling Ranma who quickly changed to male as soon as he had jumped out of the tub. **'Damn, now that was a case of déjà vu,'** he thought to himself and said out loud, "Good thinking, Kaine! It woulda been a pain in the ass to mop up that annoying asshole!"

"Not a problem, Ranma. But how did you freeze him like that?" Kaine asked, head tilted in curiosity.

"That's a martial arts technique I used, the Soul of Ice. Thanks to my ki reserves it has a very strong effect on fluids," Ranma retorted, the grin obvious in his voice, "So I riled up Spidercide in hopes he would try to overwhelm me with his 'special shapeshifting powers' you guys lack when I left myself wide open, and then I froze him solid. He saw how fast I am from our altercation, so I can't believe how stupid he was to think he could overpower me like that! Maybe he thought it a fluke? Who cares? Play to the arrogance of a 'super clone' or 'super genius' and it works like a charm!"

"You can say that again, man!" Ben agreed with a laugh and shook his head, "I can't believe Freakface went down so easily after all the trouble we had!"

"Just speak for yourself," Kaine said with crossed arms.

"Come on, we were at an impasse when the extra fluid webbing didn't work. My impact webbing didn't work either and we'd have had a damn hard time taking him down," Ben countered, fists stemmed into his sides.

"Hmmph," Kaine grumbled.

Ranma actually laughed now that the tension was fading from him. "You guys are just too much alike, you know that? That's why you're always butting heads," he mused and held up his hands when both men started protesting, "Don't wanna hear it, you're just gonna prove my point.

"Anyway, I guess Spidercide just underestimated me, massively. I guess he had never seen my clone in action aside from her using the vacuum blades, so he knew nothing about me and the techniques I can employ or how good I am. It is as they say: what you don't know can hurt you."

"Too true. That's gotta have hurt," Ben remarked with a minute wince and Kaine couldn't help but nod, musing, "Ignorance may be bliss sometimes and finding out why Warren did what he did hurt, but having closure feels... surprisingly good."

– _**Apropos hurt, we should take care of Warren now before anyone interrupts, –**_ Sym said vaguely, _**– My idea will ensure that you get your revenge. Warren will be forced to cooperate with the authorities and he will die for sure in a few years time, in a way so that you will be able to wash your hands off everything. Sounds good? –**_

'**Almost too good to be true, Sym. Were it anyone else suggesting it I wouldn't trust them,'** he thought back and felt Sym's gratitude at the implied praise, and forcing himself to return his focus to the outside world he replied, "That's true, Kaine. I'll have to attend to a lose end, will you two take care of Freakface?" he asked levelly, and upon Kaine and Ben nodding Ranma inclined his head, uttering "Thanks."

Then, as an afterthought Ranma asked, "What became of the Gwen Stacy clone? I don't see or feel her around."

Ben's and Kaine's shoulders slumped and either men seemed reluctant to answer. "Our fight with Spidercide damaged her pod," Kaine finally spoke up with a sigh, "She fell out, and due to the fact that she didn't seem to have been fully baked she decomposed before our eyes. 'S probably why Warren lost all will to fight."

"Damn. She didn't deserve such an end," Ranma whispered softly and gnashed his teeth in frustration.

Turning around to the wall where he had trapped the Jackal and his clone Ranma then began to walk towards the mad geneticist with long, distance-eating strides. Satisfaction at finally having caught one of the perpetrators began to wash away the pity he felt for the Gwen Stacy clone, and a cold smile adorned his face when he came to stand in front of Miles Warren.

"How the mighty have fallen, no, Warren? Or should I say Dr Renarw?" Ranma asked levelly and dissolved the webbing over the man's mouth to hear his answer.

"I have lost everything, the fight, Gwen, my ambitions. My plans have gone up in smoke, and I realise the futility of my situation. So why don't you get it over with?" Warren asked almost tiredly.

"Yeah, I got you where I want you, Warren, and believe me, I'd love nothing more than to tear through you like a hot knife through butter for your deeds," Ranma ground out in a barely controlled voice, "But I'll place my trust in this country's legal system one more time and let them deal with you. Before we get to that, however, I'll deliver some of my own brand of justice."

**'What exactly have you planned, Sym?'** Ranma inquired as he pretended to gather himself for what he was about to do.

– _**Press one of your hands over his mouth close to his nose and make it glow with ki. I will do the rest, –**_ the symbiote replied.

**'Ookay**,' Ranma retorted with a mental shrug and did as Sym had asked.

Ranma felt no joy when Warren's eyes widened in fear, and then he felt a tendril move from his right thumb into the Jackal's nose of its own accord. Warren's eyes widened even more and one could see from his facial features that he wanted to scream, but suddenly his face slackened. **'What the hell are you doing, Sym?'** Ranma demanded.

– _**Protecting your interests. I am altering his brain so that he will be unable to lie, and he will have no choice but to answer when prompted, –**_ Sym retorted matter-of-factly, _**– The alterations to his brain also ensure that he will die from a lethal brain aneurism in no more than two years time. You get your revenge without dirtying your hands. Am I good or what? –**_

**'You what!'** Ranma exclaimed after a moment of total silence on his part.

– _**Sigh. I knew you would not appreciate my genius. In fact, I surmised that you would not approve of this because of your moral code, hence my presenting you with a fait accompli. Warren will never be able to lie again, which will be useful at your trial, no? –**_ Sym explained.

Ranma gnashed his teeth. **'You surmised correctly, almost. It's the same as with irredeemable villains, three fuck ups and they're fair game. Warren crossed that line a long time ago. But I'd have liked to be informed or asked beforehand. Now, what's done is done, but thanks for looking out for me, Sym. Oh, and your plan's pure genius!'**

– _**Good that I was already finished or I might have turned Warren into a drooling vegetable. You manage to surprise me time and again, and that will teach me to be more open and upfront in the future, –**_ Sym replied solemnly.

**'Being predictable is boring,'** Ranma retorted with a mental smirk, **'Now how about we wrap this up?'**

– _**Fine by me. Let us swing by Peter instead of going directly to the FF. This way we can keep up appearances and persuade them of the fact that you have not had contact with the FF the day before yesterday, –**_ Sym suggested.

**'Brilliant idea! That way no one will be able to claim bias when Reed uses 'his' machine in the trial!'** Ranma said feeling very pleased.

– _**You are welcome, –**_ Sym returned with the mental equivalent of a satisfied smile.

Ranma turned to his allies. "Ben, Kaine, I'm finished with Warren!" he exclaimed and his expression turned thoughtful, "Any idea of where to take him and my clone? I need a very secure place to deprogram my clone, otherwise he'd cause massive amounts of damage!"

Visibly drawing on the same memories Kaine and Ben exchanged a look and said in unison, "The Fantastic Four!"

Ranma's eyes lit up. "Damn, that's a good idea! I had to drop off Scarlet Widow at their place yesterday after she got caught up in an attack, but I'd sure like to get to know them better!"

– _**Now this is even better, going straight to the FF without having to trouble Peter, –**_ Sym mused with no small amount of approval, prompting Ranma to agree mentally.

"Then I'd say the time for that is now!" Ben retorted with an audible grin to his voice, "Let's get moving!"

Taking one last look around Ranma freed his clone and shouldered her while Ben took Warren on unspoken consent, and tensing his muscles he jumped through the hole in the roof his clone had created with her involuntary exit.

It was time to dust off his acting skills.

-.-

Ranma and company had just left Jackal's lab towards Four Freedom plaza with the martial artist turned anti-hero feeling an emotion he had seldom enjoyed outside of Felicia's company, elation. He finally had closure, the perpetrator of his waking nightmare was in his grasp and they had all survived, minor injuries aside.

His not so reluctant any more allies Ben Reilly aka Scarlet Spider and Kaine were following on the heel, the former carrying Miles Warren while the latter carried the remains of their third, wayward 'brother', Spidercide aka Freakface.

The shapeshifter had begun to unfreeze ever so slowly prior to their departure from the plant, prompting Ranma to refreeze the clone with his Soul of Ice technique. The symbiote host was confident that this temporary measure would hold up long enough to get to the FF, and Kaine had crumpled up the bathtub into a handy ball which he had webbed to his back for easier transport.

They had just left the compound housing the plant when a thought occurred to Ranma. "Warren, does your lab come with a self-destruct?"

"Yes," the would-be conqueror retorted without hesitation, his voice eerily calm.

"Can it be remotely activated? If so, how?" Ranma pressed while landing on a street light that was within sight of the plant, Kaine and Ben mirroring him, perching on their own street lights.

"Yes, by using my pda," the Jackal replied in the same tone.

"Good. Throw it to me," Ranma said, his voice devoid of emotions.

Warren reached into the left pocket of his coat and retrieved a small device about the size of a mobile phone, and before Ben could hinder him he had already thrown it to Ranma who caught it easily with his right hand. "How do I activate it, Warren?" he asked once the touch of his right index finger on the touchscreen had caused the device to light up.

"Just touch the red button labelled 'AD'," Jackal replied tonelessly.

Ranma did so, and a resounding explosion of great magnitude occurred almost instantaneously, causing a satisfied smile to appear on Ranma's masked face.

"Why did you do that?" Ben demanded angrily, "We could have used that stuff to find out more! About Warren's plans, cloning, and so on!"

"Others could have used it too, Ben!" Ranma retorted coldly, "How would you've liked another army of Spidey clones released upon New York City? We don't have the manpower to keep the plant under surveillance 24/7! Someone like the Wizard," he spat the name like a foul epitaph, "would've jumped at the chance!"

"He got that right," Kaine muttered levelly, "Creating an army of clones with hardly any effort... A lot of baddies would give their right arm for such technology, some would probably even sell their fuckin' souls!"

Ben slipped into a contemplative silence until he grudgingly admitted, "Damn, I hadn't thought about that! I just saw a way to use Warren's madness for something good, but you're right! The risks are way too great!"

Ranma nodded his head a few times. "Glad you understand," he replied and a heavy sigh escaped his lips a few moments later, "No offense, you guys, I'm so fed up with this whole cloning business I wanna scream! I'll be happy when everything's said and done!"

"Feh, that I can relate to!" Ben muttered in an annoyed tone and added, "Or rather could, that is. You know, I'd have loved to find definite proof on who's the original and who's the clone, but does it matter? Peter has his life, I have mine, and we both have each other. And you, Kaine, you're our brother as well.

"As someone wise once said, it isn't our pasts that are important, but our futures. And I like to think that we have a lot ahead of us in that regard!"

"That's so idealistic I wanna puke!" Kaine grumbled, yet there wasn't any venom in his tone, fact that prompted Ben to smile behind his face-mask.

"Let's get this wrapped up before you guys start to squabble," Ranma commented mock-seriously with a shake of his head, "'cause there's some things I rather wanna do like sleep a day or five."

Taking note of the evident fatigue in Ranma's voice Kaine and Ben nodded. Ranma turned his head towards the plant one last time and saw visual evidence that the whole compound had blown up. Buildings and smokestacks were crumbling to the ground with almighty crashes, fire was everywhere, and all evidence supported the fact that the lab had been completely destroyed.

It was this momentary distraction caused by exhaustion and the feeling of cold elation that allowed his suddenly awake clone to skilfully extract herself from the original's grasp. Seeing as they were just about five metres up the clone had an easy time in getting safely to the street below. She avoided the attempts at trapping her with webbing with an almost mocking preternatural grace and cloaked herself with the Umi, then she was gone.

Little did Ranma, Ben and Kaine know that this blunder would have far-reaching consequences.

**to be continued**...

Some quick notes:

- the time difference between realities: this one was indeed taken from one of the more recent Spider-Man adventures, just like CaedesPlerique surmised. Sorry if it caused confusion.

- the story in general: I agree with Rune Tobor. The story is winding down as evidenced by the lack of interest on the readers' / reviewers' part. I don't care as much about reviews as I used to, but getting less than half of what I used to get is... saddening and a damn big pointer to bringing the story to conclusion.  
But don't worry, there'll be lots of fireworks before that.

- the 'overpowering factor': a reviewer mentioned that 'the overpowering factor' was getting 'kind of ludicrous'. To be honest, if anything I'm still downplaying Ranma's strength level. According to Wikipedia female Ranma almost effortlessly pushed a roughly 40-tonne boulder into the mouth of the Yamata-Orochi while swimming underwater! For comparison's sake: Cletus Kassidy, an untrained human, was able to lift 50 tonnes! And if you're alluding to the healing factor, this is just an upgraded form of what the symbiote grants naturally. And Ranma will need it in the future...

- Spidercide's spider sense: only Venom's and Ranma's symbiotes are able to override the original Peter Parker's spider sense. Sym cannot override it since s/he was never bonded to this version of Peter Parker. Same goes with Ben Reilly aka Scarlet Spider.

- Miles Warren and his ambitions: I never bought that ludicrous shit the authors of the second Clone Saga tried to feed us, that Warren wanted to kill all humans and replace them with clones. So this is my take on what Warren aimed for. I hope it makes more sense.

- Ranma's clone: someone at my group (sorry, forgot your name, must be 'cause of my old age) gave me the idea. If Warren made one clone and realised how... effective it was, why not make more? As for him being able to change genders, hope my explanation made sense.

- Sym meddling with Warren's brain: symbiotes can do that! Just read or google _Carnage: Mind Bomb_...

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services and my readers in general. There's probably tons of others I'm forgetting, so let this be a general shout of 'Kudos!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s)**:

NightmareSyndrom, They call me Bruce, CaedesPlerique, Seth O. Blade., Rune Tobor, god of stuff, mystery person, DariusXXI, marc, Bree R., Bobboky, Radio Driver, Jimbobob5536, Kitsune, firelordeg, (), Celestial Indigo, A Reader, Wonderbee31, Nadrek, Dumbledork, USAVet, borg rabbit, Knives91, , Rocco13, Dragon Man 180, Anonymous Jerk, PEJP Bengtzone, GNesnios685


	21. When life gives you lemons

**Pre-Chapter A/N: **thanks for seventy-two birthday presents! They made my day and were appreciated!

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 21: When life gives you lemons...**

"Fuck!" Ranma, still balanced on top of the street light, ineloquently swore, aptly summing up his feelings on the unexpected escape of his clone, "I can't believe I fucked up this bad. I must be losing my touch."

– _**We forgot to take her recovery rate into account. You have always bounced back incredibly fast even without our healing factor, so I am as much to blame, –**_ Sym commented sourly.

Ranma exhaled deeply and sighed. "She's gone. And with that technique in play she won't be found unless she wants to," he said to Ben and Kaine who were still perched on top of their own street lights, and tensing his body he added, "There ain't anything left to do for us here. Let's head to the FF headquarters before goo-face escapes too."

"Yeah, one escapee's more than enough," Ben agreed, his voice sounding dissatisfied, "Damn, it would've been way easier for you to prove your innocence if-"

"Way to speak your mind without thinking things through, O'Hara," Kaine interrupted with a sigh and shook his head, "I don't think he's beating himself up over it already."

The trenchant sarcasm made Ben wince and mutter "Whoops,", but Ranma waved it away. "He's right, Kaine. It would've been easier, but what's done is done. Let's get these two to the Fantastic Four before they spontaneously combust or something. Would be just my luck."

That both clones of Peter Parker could easily relate to being victims of the infamous Parker luck, themselves, and with Kaine saying "Right," and Ben "Ready to go," the three swung away.

-.-

"How come you knew your way to 42nd Street and Madison Ave, Ranma?" Ben inquired curiously just as they swung towards Four Freedom Plaza.

Ranma fired his webbing and swivelled his head to look at Ben. "I've always made it a habit to know my turf, so I memorised the most important and famous places New York has to offer in case I have to get somewhere quickly. It's just a tad unprofessional if you have to consult a map before you wanna engage say, Electro at Carnegie Hall, no?" he retorted wryly and mimed, "Hello officer, can you tell me the way to Carnegie Hall?"

"That fight would never take place as ole flashbulb wouldn't know how to read a map to get to Carnegie Hall in the first place, but I get your point," Ben retorted with a grin to his voice, "Here we are. The lift or unconventional?"

"Unconventional," Ranma answered after making a ki-sweep and finding at least one of the Fantastic Four in their living room, "Good! Reed Richards of the FF is up there!"

Ben followed Ranma's pointed finger just as the younger man fired his webbing to gain altitude, Kaine mirroring him, and a few seconds later all three spider-powered men were adhering to the living room window. "Mr Fantastic already knows we're here or we'd probably have got a taste of the buildings defences," Ben mused wryly.

"You got that right," Kaine muttered as he obviously drew on the same memories, "And he's bound to have improved on his work since the last time."

The adjacent living room window just up and disappeared, fact that startled Ranma, Kaine and Ben for a second, and Reed Richards stuck out his head. "Scarlet Spider," he nodded at Ben, swivelled his head and regarded Ranma, "YinYang Spider also known as 'Ronin Ranko' also known as Ranma formerly of the Saotome clan, nice to meet you again. By the way, Scarlet Widow's doing better," he said leaving Ranma speechless, prompting Reed to regard the first Parker clone, "And you are unknown to me."

"Name's Kaine, just Kaine. I'm with them," the Parker clone responded levelly.

"He is," confirmed Ben and Ranma nodded absently, his mind still going over the puzzle why Reed had mentioned these facts.

"I admit I am intrigued that you're carrying what appears to be a deformed bathtub, Kaine. And if I may inquire, who's this you're carrying, Ranma, if I may call you Ranma?" Reed asked, his eyebrows raised inquiringly.

His eyes darkening Ranma nodded jerkily. "Seeing as I don't have a family name left, yeah. Everything is linked to and comes back to this man here, Dr Richards. Professor Miles Warren, or as he likes to call himself now, The Jackal. As you seem to know that I was dubbed 'Ronin Ranko' by the media-"

"I assume all of the United States if not the world knows your story by now," Reed interrupted, his eyes gleaming mirthful.

His brows rising into the hairline at that Ranma picked up where he had left off before having been interrupted. "- this is the man responsible for my plight. Not to impose, but can we come in? We need your help."

Reed, his expression solemn, nodded his head which he then retracted. "Of course. I'm hardly one to turn down a reasonable request, and I must admit I'm intrigued by your case. Come on in."

Ranma and the Parkers followed Reed Richards inside, the young man letting his eye wander across the room as if seeing it for the first time. "Wow, nice place you got here!"

"Thank you," Reed replied modestly and waved his right hand at the Jackal and the bathtub containing the remains of Spidercide. "Shall we take care of that first?"

Acting as the unofficial spokesperson Ranma nodded. "Please. Warren needs to be placed into a secure holding cell until you decide what to do with him, that in there, well I dunno, you'll have to take a look at it."

"Good. Please follow me," Reed said and led the way out of the living room, Ranma, Kaine and Ben trailing behind him with curious expression on their faces.

-.-

Twenty minutes later the quartet had adjourned to the living room seeing as it offered more comfortable accommodations. Miles Warren had been placed into a maximum security holding cell for the time being – the cell having impressed Ranma and the two Peter clones to no end – until Reed saw fit to notify the authorities.

Spidercide, or what was left of him seeing as the third Parker clone's body had completely turned into a gooey substance, Mr Fantastic had placed in suspended animation seeing as the villain still showed signs of life, even if in a severely reduced fashion.

Entering the living room Reed Richards sat down in an armchair and beckoned his guests to grab seats as well.

"I thought you'd been here before, yesterday was it?" Ben inquired as he sat down on the three-piece sofa, necessitating Kaine to be seated on the two-piece sofa due to their tumultuous past, "How come you were just as fascinated by the place as Kaine and me?"

Ranma sat down next to Kaine and removed his face-mask, revealing a neutral gaze. "Yeah, I accompanied Dr Richards to the lab where he confirmed that Scarlet Widow would pull through. That does not necessitate my knowing the layout of this complex, does it?" he asked, smiling ironically.

"Hmm, nope," Ben responded in a humming tone and added, "Say, why did you remove your mask?"

"What's this, Q&A session intermediate level?" Ranma asked with a chuckle, but his face turned serious, "Dr Richards seems to know exactly who I am, and he alluded to the country and possibly the world knowing too. Say, why is that, Dr Richards?"

"Oho, a Q&A session advanced level?" Reed retorted with his eyes twinkling, but this twinkle diminished as he trained a serious and empathic gaze on the younger man, "Yes, I know who you are as I demonstrated upon your arrival. Your identity has become common knowledge, or rather, is becoming common knowledge after your bout with your clone twenty-seven minutes ago.

"A witness to your fight, one Robert Shaw, residing in the area where your fight took place had the presence of mind to capture your altercation on tape. It's no exaggeration to say that he made a 'killing' when he sold the tape to CNN."

Ranma resisted the urge to palm his face and sighed. "I see. How much did he record?"

"Almost all of it from the time when your clash with your clone destroyed the windows up to the end, including the demonstration of your abilities," Reed replied levelly, and added, "Knowing all of your story, which is becoming common knowledge as well as we speak, I must say that I'm impressed that you kept to your ideals. Lesser men would have broken under the pressure you must have been under."

Ranma chuckled mirthlessly. "I guess I'm just too stubborn to die. I swore to myself that I wouldn't give up until I had caught the bastards and bitches that ruined my life, and I like to think that I've achieved an important interim goal."

"Interim goal?" Ben inquired in a puzzled tone of voice.

"I know that tone, I know it too well. There's more, isn't it? Your crusade isn't over, right?" Kaine inserted in a tone that was devoid of emotion.

Ranma's eyes darkened noticeably as he nodded. "No, it ain't. Not by a long shot. Dr Richards here seems to know most of my story, but neither Ben nor you do. So lean back, get comfy and listen to the fucked up wreck that became my life. Here goes..."

-.-

Two men sharing the same genetic material, being clones of Peter Parker also known as Spider-Man after all, stared ahead with identical gobsmacked expressions behind their face-masks after hearing Ranma's full story, both men making similar exclamations as their largely similar intellects reached similar conclusions at a similar time.

"So this Kuno chick wanted your female half, whom she saw as a rival, out of the way so that she could have your male form for herself. She used her connections to bribe Warren into making a clone of your female half, programmed to kill anyone who hit on her so that you'd take the fall," Ben summed up in a level if disbelieving tone, inquiring, "That right so far?"

Ranma nodded wordlessly prompting Ben to shake his head. "Right. This girl's so nuts that my significant vocabulary fails to ascribe a proper term. It bloody beggars belief!"

"We don't often see eye-to-eye, O'Hara, but you got that right! Ranma, you know what you got to do, right? Especially seeing as that accident gave the nutso chick super powers," Kaine commented, letting his voice trail off suggestively.

Hadn't he had the image of the 'normal' anti-hero to uphold Ranma would have formed bladed weapons from his hands. Thus he limited himself to a grim nod. "Yeah. She got five kids killed which she knowingly accepted, ruined my life and made it hell on earth and only got more dangerous 'cause of her powers. There's only one recourse."

"I don't condone your intentions, Ranma, but it is not my place to stop you," Reed spoke up levelly and added, "But think about the consequences killing her will bring. Ask yourself this? Is it worth going to jail over?"

Ranma said nothing, but his eyes held all the answers needed.

-.-

An oppressive silence hung in the living of the Fantastic Four that was becoming rather awkward until Reed Richards cleared his throat. "I would suggest that I call the authorities now, but I will insist that the questioning of Miles Warren be done here. A lot of injustice has been done to you, young man, and I will do everything in my power to help you out as much as possible."

Looking Reed in the eyes Ranma got the full meaning and inclined his head. "Thanks, Mr Fantastic. Even though I'm not looking forward to getting thrown back into jail, part of me is glad that my life on the run is over."

"Don't mention it. Oh, as an aside that you may be interested in, I just recently completed a new invention and used my clout to have it field-tested at court. It can extract, store and replay memories, even going so far as to being able to differentiate between genuine and implanted memories," Reed exclaimed in a tone that sounded tad self-satisfied.

Ranma's eyes widened a fraction as he absorbed the information that the machine was already assembled and being field-tested by the courts, and he was glad that the surprise undoubtedly showing on his face could be attributed to enormity of the invention in general and for him in particular. "I'll be damned! That could make my life a lot easier should it be accepted at court! Thank you!"

Reed smiled modestly. "Well, I'm glad if one of my inventions can contribute to seeing justice prevail. I didn't invent it for you per se, you see, but having such a case in you where my invention can make a difference is rewarding."

"I bet. If everything goes well it might just help me put the close on a chapter of my life that challenged me like no other," Ranma replied, his eyes darkening for a moment as he thought back to all that had happened in the last few months before they lit up again, "This time around I have at least some solid evidence backing me up. Uh, as for that, you will make sure that they interrogate Warren properly, right? I mean, I got fucked up by the American legal system once. And you know the saying, fool me once..."

Reed nodded gravely. "I understand where you're coming from, and I'll do everything in my power to ensure that we get all the answers from Warren.

"Now then," he stretched his right arm to reach for a device that looked a lot like a futuristic cordless phone, grabbed it and brought it to his right ear, already having dialled, "I'll call the police."

"And that's my cue," Kaine spoke up and got to his feet, "Nice having metcha, Dr Richards, but I have things to do and places to be!" he added and was already half-way out of the window as he stopped and turned around, saying, "Good luck, Ranma, and do what's necessary!"

Ranma nodded at the other man, his expression solemn. "Will do! Take care, man!"

Nodding once Kaine catapulted himself out of the window, then he was gone. Ranma stared at the window for a few moments longer until he shook himself back to reality, hearing Ben mutter, "Damn, I could grow to like the bastard when he's like that. No, Ben, he's been the bane of your existence for years! You hate him. There, that's better!"

"You know what they say about talking to yourself, right?" Ranma commented dubiously.

Ben looked over at Ranma and shrugged. "It's only becoming an issue if you start answering yourself," he retorted dryly, "But seriously, it was nice fighting alongside you. Hope we can do that again some time."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Ranma replied with a genuine smile, "But I fear that'll have to wait for a while. Reed's just finished, which means that the police will be here shortly to take me away."

"That's correct. They'll be here in about five minutes," Reed spoke up and laid down the phone on the table, "They'd have been here sooner but seeing as they have to pick up the assistant district attorney..."

"Oh joy, the full gamut for li'l ole me," Ranma muttered sarcastically.

"Ranma, you were already exonerated in Japan and millions will by now have heard your story. That Daniel Reilly, that's the new assistant district attorney and predecessor of Robert Burke, the man who saw you convicted, is involving himself at this early a point without need can be a good sign," Reed said intently, expressing his opinion.

"Dr Richards is right, Ranma. Things are looking up now, you just wait. And if I can help in any way or form I will, Ranma," Ben said solemnly and got to his feet, "I should go now, dealing with the cops always shifty when you don't have the best rep," he muttered and stepped towards Ranma, holding out his right hand, "I'll be there at the trial that I'm sure is to come, you can count on it!"

Ranma took Ben's proffered hand and gave it a firm shake, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Thanks, Ben! Now shoo before we get to witness one of the classic Spider-Man versus police misunderstandings!"

"Like the world needs more of those," Ben muttered to the amusement of the other two, and turning to look at Reed Richards after he had walked to the window he added, "Thanks for the hospitality, Dr Richards. I'll recommend you to my friends."

"I ask you to refrain from doing so. We got enough visitors as it is, both unbidden and not, and it seriously cuts into my time scheduled for R&D," Reed muttered in a tone that left the others guessing if he was serious or not.

"Ben, better leave before he tests if his defensive systems are faster than your spider-like reflexes," Ranma commented in a mock-serious tone.

"Right, see ya in the funny pages! Take care!" Ben retorted and jumped out of the window, leaving an amused Reed and Ranma behind.

"Damn, what a day! Getting a lead on Freakface, battling hordes of Spidey clones, kicking Jackal's, Freakface's and my clone's asses and now turning myself in," Ranma muttered to himself in quiet disbelief, "Sometimes even I am surprised how much my life sucks. Anyway, I'll be going to the bathroom. On second thought, where is the bathroom?"

After getting directions from Reed which would incidentally allow him to pass by the room where Felicia was recovering Ranma set himself in motion. **'Thank Goodness that Reed's always thinking ahead. This way I can grab Felicia's YinYang Spider costume and give her a few smoochies before it's behind bars again! It's not much, but what do they say? Things like that will get a man through a war!'** he thought to himself, his feet having led him to Felicia's room automatically.

Ranma knew this room by heart, having spent the night there once as well. It was a warm, welcoming room of five by six metres held in an orangey-red colour. A bed of two by two was standing adjacent to the leftmost wall while the rightmost wall was lined with closets, even including one housing an entertainment centre. The door at the bed-head led to a small but sufficient bathroom, rounding off a very neat guest room.

Silently opening the door Ranma entered and found his girlfriend lying on her right side on the guest bed, reading a book. "I noticed you enter the building with two Peter-like ki signatures a while ago, love. Did everything go okay?" she asked, her eyes worried.

Ranma walked closer to his girlfriend and sat down, pulling Felicia up and close, drinking in her scent before dropping a strong, emotion-laden kiss on her lips. Pulling back he smiled wistfully and tucked an errant strand of silver hair behind her right ear. "Yes. We captured Jackal and Spidercide, but my clone got away. Reed has already called the police and the district attorney, they'll be here shortly to interrogate Jackal and to take me away."

"What! But I just got you back!" Felicia protested in a whiny tone, "He's such a meanie!"

"Be that as it is, procrastinating won't do me any good, and Reed knows this. And I agree with him, the sooner this is over, the better. And as much as I hate being away from you, I have to do this. I owe it to myself, I've sworn to clear my name and I will do it!" Ranma replied in a tone filled with conviction.

"Awww man! That means I still won't get any for a few weeks yet! How am I gonna survive that?" Felicia whined, her lips forming a pout.

"Like you did for the past four months without my awesomeness, with cold showers or something!" Ranma replied mirthfully but turned serious quickly, "I ain't got much time left, hon. Where's the YinYang Spider costume?"

"Over there in the leftmost closet!" Felicia exclaimed and used her right index finger to point, "Topmost drawer!"

Ranma opened said drawer and retrieved the costume. As soon as he held it in his hands Sym retreated into his body just leaving him in his briefs, causing Felicia to audibly lick her chops. "Down, girl. I gotta hurry anyway, I feel several ki signatures approaching. Betcha ten to one that's the cops," he said and Amagurikened into the costume.

Walking over to Felicia and sitting down close to her Ranma pulled her close. "I have no idea when I'll be back, but know this, I'd fight my way through hell and back just to be with you. I love you, Felicia Hardy. From the bottom of my heart."

Felicia looked into his eyes as if searching for something, and finding what she had been looking for the platinum blonde melted into his arms. "I love you more than words can say, Ranma, and I'll miss you every day we're apart. Gosh, listen to us, we sound like a bad romance novel!" she exclaimed and giggled, "But that doesn't make it any less true. Take care of yourself, my love!"

"I will, honey. See you at the trial," Ranma said, and despite the fact that he wanted to do anything but to leave Felicia his steps led him out of the door and to an uncertain fate, one that he had little to no control over.

Looking back one last time he saw silver tears running down Felicia's cheeks, and a quickly repressed flash of pain crossing his face he vowed to himself that he would do his best to never see her crying again if he could help it. Ranma blew her a kiss, closed the door and guided his steps to where the rest of his future would be decided.

-.-

Ranma's senses told him that he had arrived just in time, and looking at Reed he said, "Here they come now," as he retook his place on the sofa.

Reed trusted in Ranma's observation and made to go to the door when Roberta spoke up. _"Dr Richards, sir? You have four visitors from the NYPD and assistant district attorney Reilly."_

"Send them right in, Roberta," Reed responded calmly and retook his place, "And activate holographic guidance mode."

_"Yes, Dr Richards!_" Roberta responded obediently.

Foot falls could be heard in the hallway and Ranma made it a game to get a profile on the three officers and the assistant district attorney. **'Four males, one female. Hmm, they're really laying it on thick, eh?'**

His thoughts were interrupted when the quintet entered the living room. The first one to step into the room was a powerfully-built man of Latin origin with a strong face whose dark eyes immediately scanned the room for threats. He wore the uniform Ranma had seen often before, dark blue pants, black shoes, light blue shirt complete with a black tie, a dark blue jacket with a flash each on his respective upper arms and a black visored cap.

Not a step behind the first officer was another man who was, by Ranma's estimation, a good five centimetres smaller than the first, making him a good 1.80 metres. He was an equally well-built Caucasian with dishwater blond hair and piercing green eyes, clad in the same uniform as the first.

Following them at a measured clip was a duo clad in suits, both the man and the woman following the example of the officers by taking in the situation with a gaze that seemed to drink in every little detail. The man, a handsome brown-haired Caucasian about 1.80 metres tall, was wearing a navy-blue jacket and equally navy-blue suit trousers, a white shirt and a navy-blue tie, black shoes rounding off the picture. His brown eyes, having swept the room, came to rest on Ranma, his angular face settling in a neutral mask.

His female companion was a good ten centimetres shorter than her male colleague, and where he was handsome she was beautiful. Shoulder-length curly auburn hair framed a pretty face, a face that was accentuated by full lips, a button nose and a pair of green eyes that seemed to be brimming with life and energy while at the same time holding a glint to them that spoke up a quick wit. She seemed to be wearing the female equivalent of the man's choice in wardrobe, a navy-blue blazer with a white blouse underneath, navy-blue pants and dark-blue shoes.

Last but not least came the assistant district attorney. He could only be described as a bear of a man with his large frame, topping out at what Ranma estimated to be 1.90 metres. Sharp blue eyes scanned the room as the brown-haired man entered, and he stopped to take in the situation as a whole, smoothing out his navy blue shirt.

"Good evening, gentlemen," he said in an almost pleasant tone as he finally walked into the room, "For those of you meeting me for the first time, I am assistant district attorney Daniel Reilly."

The officers flanking the assistant district attorney almost made Ranma smile. He could have easily wiped the floor with them before any of the officers and detectives could have drawn their weapons had he been so inclined, and everyone knew that this 'show of force' was just that, show.

"This is one of my teams of detectives," Daniel Reilly spoke on and waved his right hand at the duo in suits, "Detectives James Felton and Nicole Arden."

Both detectives inclined their heads at Ranma and Reed, uttering a polite, "Good evening," which the super-powered men returned in kind.

The first introductions made the assistant district attorney waved his hand at the police officers, introducing them as Sergeants Alan Foster and Alvaro Chavez.

"Seeing as you're here to apprehend me you already know who I am," Ranma spoke up when Daniel Reilly's eyes turned back on him.

"It is so, Mr Saotome," the assistant district attorney returned and made to add more, but Ranma clearing his throat interrupted the assistant district attorney. If the man was displeased he didn't show it. "Yes, Mr Saotome?"

"Please call me just Ranma, assistant district attorney Reilly. My former mother saw to it that I'll never be a Saotome again. It is something of a sore spot to me, if you understand," Ranma explained levelly.

While the explanation was given in a calm and measured tone Daniel Reilly easily caught on to the underlying meaning, prompting him to nod. "Understood, Ranma. Before we get down to business, let me pass along the gratitude of my department, Dr Richards. Your invention is working as advertised. The final approval is still pending, but I am certain we will have it in a day or two."

"This is good news. I hope my invention will shed light on even the most difficult cases," Reed Richards replied modestly.

Mr Reilly nodded solemnly. "I hope so too, Dr Richards. The case of young Ranma here could very well be such a case where your invention could prove to be useful. To be honest, this whole case is nothing but an embarrassment to us. My predecessor bungled it up but good in his bid to get the promotion he so desired, and it is now evident he... didn't do the best job he could have."

Ranma wanted to snort at the understatement but kept his tongue. Instead he pasted a serious expression on his face and just inclined his head. Surprise briefly flared up in Reilly's eyes at the level of maturity the youngest occupant of the room was displaying but it was quickly replaced by a neutral if curious look. "Ranma, you must understand that I have to verify that you are indeed who you claim to be. You said in your original trial that you changed genders by application of differently temperated fluids, but the video material shows that you can now change genders at will. Would you be so kind?"

Inclining his head Ranma fulfilled Reilly's thinly veiled request, and concentrating for just a moment he shifted to female form. Tilting her head to the right she ignored the gaping officers and calmly asked, "Happy?"

"Extremely so. You match the evidence on the video tape to a t, Ranma," Reilly retorted to which Ranma gave no outward reaction sans changing back to male, "Now we can get to the official part. Lieutenant Chavez, if you would?" the assistant district attorney prompted in a professional tone.

Ranma's assumptions of what was to happen next were proven correct when the Latin cop proceeded to read him his rights. Once the man was done assistant district attorney Reilly nodded his head in a satisfied way. "With that out of the way I feel we can get started. Do you mind if I grab a seat, Dr Richards?"

"Not at all, assistant district attorney," Reed responded politely.

"You can sit down here, sir," Ranma exclaimed and blurred only to reappear sitting on the sofa Ben had vacated a few minutes ago, leaving the others blinking.

"Holy fuck!" and similar exclamations originated from the officers while Daniel Reilly limited himself to extremely raised brows. The female detective was the first to form coherent thoughts, almost shouting, "What was that?"

"A martial arts technique as well as physical conditioning that allows me to move at what would commonly be called super speed. I trained more than a decade to reach this level," Ranma replied, a measure of pride audible in his voice.

"You want to tell me that this is Martial Arts? Like Bruce Lee? Hah, tell me another one," the blond officer retorted in a disbelieving and almost disparaging tone that drew disapproving looks from the detectives which didn't impress the man in the slightest.

Ranma, a retort akin to, "That can be arranged," on the tip of his tongue stopped himself short when the assistant district attorney sighed. "I forgot, none of you have seen the video yet," Reilly spoke up and leant forward, "Anyway, before we get to that, I have some questions of my own, and I ask you to answer them truthfully and completely. This is no formal questioning, however, due to a bylaw regarding super humans we can turn this into an interrogation at any time, much as we're going to do in Mr Warren's case. But keep in mind, what you say can be used against you just as much as it can benefit you."

Ranma understood the underlying message and did his level best to crush the sliver of hope growing in his heart. "Understood, sir."

Reilly nodded satisfied. "If you want to you can consult a lawyer nonetheless, Ranma. Too much went wrong in the last trial, and I could recommend a few if you like."

"That won't be necessary, Mr Reilly," Reed spoke up and stretched his left hand to grab the phone, "I'll just phone Jennifer Walters. Ranma and her have worked together in the past," here Ranma was glad that Felicia had at least given him an overview of her activities as YinYang Spider and knew what Reed was referring to, "And I'm certain she would easily agree to being Ranma's defending lawyer."

"Very well. I don't want to give the impression that we want to take advantage of his inexperience when it comes to legal proceedings," Daniel Reilly commented in a serious tone.

"Please do so, Dr Richards," Ranma nodded.

Inclining his head as confirmation Reed dialled and mouthed for everyone to grab a seat, and pressing a few buttons on something that looked like a remote the living room expanded and two more three-piece sofas appeared, effectively eliminating the space problems. Shrugging to themselves at this display of applied genius the civil servants followed Reed's invitation while the aforementioned scientist talked with Jennifer Walters.

-.-

Reed quickly finished the call and informed Ranma and the public servants that Jennifer Walters would join them in about ten minutes as she had incidentally just concluded a hearing close by. After consulting Reed Ranma had agreed to answer a range of informal questions to pass the time.

An eager yet curious look gleaming in his eyes Daniel Reilly opened his mouth for the opening question. "First off, why is it that your female form is so much taller than your clone, Ranma? You used to be the same height prior to your escape," he inquired in professional curiosity.

"Long story short, I hit a growth spurt when I was on the run. I've always been good at scavenging food so getting a balanced diet wasn't a problem," Ranma explained, and seeing the looks of the officers he added, "It was only ever a few things here or there. Look, I was on the run, and do you know why? No one believed me or tried to help me prove that I'd told the truth and I was left to rot.

"When that big, super-powered jackass tried to rape me with the friendly assistance of a guard I snapped-"

"So that is why," murmured Reilly with a thoughtful expression, prompting Ranma to fall silent in favour of listening.

"Sir?" the female detective inquired.

"Big Jack was found with severe injuries to his, hmm, privates in the boiler room of Ryker's in the wake of Ranma's flight. Jack claimed he'd got into a tussle with a fellow inmate but totally clammed up when questioned about the identity of the perpetrator. But I remember the reports stating he was positively gloating when he heard 'Ronin Ranko' had been killed," Reilly explained absently, and then he focussed his gaze on Ranma who had muttered, "Poor, poor Jack, he'll be so disappointed," in a low, venomous mutter.

"What happened then?" Reilly inquired, urging Ranma to carry on.

"I don't know... I was in some kinda shock or something and just wanted to get the hell away. I had no idea how to deal with what had almost happened to me, and my skills allowed me to get to the roof. Things are pretty much history from there on out," Ranma summed up in a tone that conveyed that the happenings had been traumatic for him.

"Sir, if I may," the blond police officer spoke up.

"Go ahead, Sergeant Foster," Reilly allowed, waving about his right hand.

"You said that you escaped and managed to do what you did because of your martial arts skills. It's an understatement to say I find that hard to swallow!" the man exclaimed forcefully.

Ranma smiled humourlessly. "You'll probably say that it's because of mutant or super powers, right? Y-"

"If I may interrupt, Ranma, Dr Richards, you surely have a copy of that CNN tape depicting Ranma's fight against his clone?" Daniel Reilly cut in.

"Of course," Reed replied and stretched his left arm to retrieve a remote from the window sill, and pressing a button caused a 56 inch view screen to lower itself from the ceiling and embed itself into the wall by means unknown. The screen flared to life, and Ranma and the others watched in the following minutes what the escaped convict had experienced not half an hour ago. Needless to say, all eyes were glued to the screen.

-.-

Seven minutes later four sets of jaws hung agape, and as soon as the clip had come to an end a flurry of questions were flung at Ranma by the formerly so composed cops and detectives. Due to their training the three men and one woman noticed quickly that they were achieving naught as long as everyone was speaking at the same time. Ranma saw Daniel Reilly smile at this show of discipline, but he had to focus when the male detective, Felton, asked him a question.

"All of what you demonstrated in this clip, you learned to do all this through training?" the man asked, his tone a bit incredulous.

Ranma schooled his features from attentiveness into impassivity. "Yes. As I said in this thrice damned clip-"

"Why thrice damned, sir?" Detective Felton cut in, "It has the potential of going a long way in helping you."

"That may be so, Detective Felton," Ranma nodded with an inclination of his head and a small smile, "But it's still thrice damned because I hate to brag. I'd just decided to do it on a whim to show that my abilities aren't given but earned. I've been training for more than seventeen years and it cost me a lot of blood, sweat and other things I'd rather not mention. What I can do sure as hell didn't come for free!"

"Could anyone learn to do what you can do?" the Latin officer, Chavez spoke up, a speculative gleam in his eyes.

Ranma tilted his head in contemplation for a few moments before answering. "I'm not certain they could learn to project their ki as a weapon as I and a few others can do, but given enough dedication and will-power I'd say yes, those willing to apply themselves could at least learn to enhance their bodies."

The young man noticed the interested gleams in the eyes of all officers and detectives, and even Daniel Reilly looked interested. "Did you teach it to anyone?" Detective Felton inquired.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I taught Spider-Man how to harness his ki," and seeing the disgruntled and disapproving looks on the officers' faces Ranma added, "I may not be in the strongest of positions and I'm dead certain you hate how we 'masked vigilantes' poach on your territory, but we have the power to make a difference.

"Some of us earned that power, some got it as a gift. And we _have_ to use our powers to offset the chaos, death and havoc those who use their powers for selfish gains create. Were we to stop trying to make a difference I'm almost certain things would take a turn for the worse."

"That's sad but true," Daniel Reilly muttered to himself with Detectives Felton and Arden nodding solemnly.

"There's a few studies that predict that New York City would turn into something right out of the Watchmen comics within a few weeks were the men and women that are commonly called heroes to stop their activities," Detective Arden spoke up.

"But they're always getting in the way and don't obey the laws!" Sergeant Foster exclaimed heatedly, his colleague grunting in agreement.

Ranma exhaled deeply, making everyone focus their attention on him. "Kami-sama knows I don't want to belittle you or make a mockery out of you all risking your necks 24/7/365, for He knows I have a lot of respect for what you do on a daily basis, what you experience and what you have to live through, but just because I'm not part of the system I can't and won't stop helping those that need it.

"The day I turn a blind eye on someone who needs my help is the day I die. That is my way, that is the way of The Art. Defend the weak, and help them to help themselves," he exclaimed in utter conviction, the glint in her eyes daring anyone to object, but he noticed to his surprise that he seemed to have succeeded in giving the officers food for thought, "Spider-Man is, contrary to popular belief, one of those who wants to make a difference, who wants to help those that can't help themselves. Hence why I gave him the tools to better himself. Better heroes equals a higher success rate for the good guys, more lives saved, peace kept, you get the idea.

"And believe me, I'd only ever teach those who are morally and ethically above-board. There's just too much potential for misuse!"

"That came from the bottom of his heart, that much is certain!" Detective Arden commented in a light tone that had nothing negative to it.

"Yep. Nonetheless, there's this convoluted mess to clear up, and I'm not looking forward to that headache!" Detective Felton retorted, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It seems from the new evidence that a lot of mistakes were made!"

"Good that the opposing side can admit that at least," a female voice commented from the door, and mere seconds later the owner of said voice stepped into the room. Jennifer Walters also known as She-Hulk looked down from her impressive height, and nodding first to the assistant district attorney and his team the jade-green giantess greeted Reed before turning to look at Ranma.

"Isn't it a hallmark of a good man to admit when he's been wrong?" Daniel Reilly queried rhetorically before She-Hulk could speak on, "Sadly it's quite evident that young Ranma was treated... unjustly in the first trial."

"That's a start," She-Hulk commented with an inclination of her head which she then turned to look at Ranma, "I admit I hadn't even dreamt of something like this when you said you might need my help in the future. You being Ranma comes as a... surprise. But I like surprises of this kind."

Ranma mirrored Jennifer Walter's smile. "Glad you're willing to help, Jen. As for payment-"

"Don't worry about it. And no, this isn't charity, but I'll be damned if I miss my chance at getting a shot at Burke! He used your trial and you to elevate himself into a position of power! Had I been around at that time this bas..." Jennifer Walters interrupted herself and took a few calming breaths, "This still makes me so angry I want to punch out a few walls! Your trial is a prime example of how justice should not, should never be conducted!" She-Hulk concluded impassionedly, her dark green eyes narrowed.

Ranma's eyes had widened a bit during She-Hulk's monologue, and Reed's and Peter's words on how passionate Jennifer Walters was about anything pertaining to justice came back to him. **'Even if I'd already decided on her as my defender, this clinches it, she'll fight tooth and nail for me. Unlike the loser who just about rolled over and let Burke have his way.'**

Daniel Reilly clapped his hands. "Good! Now that everything's in order, Dr Richards, would you now show us to the man Ranma and his ally apprehended?"

"Of course. Follow me," Mr Fantastic answered and got to his feet, holding out his right hand.

"Ranma," Daniel Reilly began as he got to his feet as well, "Dr Richards asked me that you be allowed to sit in on the interrogation of Mr Warren, and I will agree on the condition that you don't interrupt. Agreed?"

"So that is why you came with the full squad," She-Hulk remarked and nodded her head in understanding, "Clever. I assume you've called in a public defender for Warren?"

Daniel Reilly smiled mirthlessly. "Of course. Dr Richards suggested we make use of his recording technology for the interrogations, and seeing as his equipment is lightyears ahead of what we have at our disposal," the last part was ground out very grudgingly, "and that those pertinent to the case are assembled here I agreed. Now, as for my question, Ranma?"

"I agree," Ranma replied without hesitation, "I'd almost give my left arm to sit in on that interrogation!"

_"Dr Richards, a Mr Andrew Tyler is here to see a Mr Warren. Should I send him through?"_ Roberta's unsure sounding voice spoke up.

"He's the public defender Miss Walters spoke of," Daniel Reilly supplied, "And he's earlier than expected. Shoot, I had hoped to get in a few preliminary questions."

"That supports the conclusions I drew. Send him in, Roberta!" the leader of the Fantastic Four remarked calmly.

_"Right away, Dr Richards!" _

Heavy footfalls could be heard in the hallway shortly thereafter, and a heavy-set balding man in his forties entered. Andrew Tyler turned out to be a red-faced, overweight Caucasian in his mid-forties, and Ranma, keeping his face neutral thought, **'He's at least three to four stone overweight. No wonder he's outta breath from walking this short a distance. But it remains to be seen if he's as much of a loser as my public defender was.'**

Swivelling his large head to get a feel for the situation he was walking into, the well-clad brunette man, who seemed to prefer Armani suits, let calculating and experienced brown eyes set in a rotund face sweep over the room while smoothing out his black shirt. Assessment concluded the officers and detectives as well as Ranma, Reed and She-Hulk received a curt nod. Staring at Daniel Reilly the man grumbled, "Just my luck to be on duty today, Danny. That should teach me to give up on betting, eh?"

"If that doesn't nothing ever will, Andy," Daniel Reilly retorted in an amused tone, "And while we're talking about failings, you should join us in our morning runs again. I can hear you huffing and puffing even from here!"

"Yadda yadda, Danny. Us poor defenders don't have such an abundance of time to call upon as you prosec guys. Say! I'm surprised you got permission to make the interrogation here." Andrew Tyler exclaimed, his brows cocked, "Well, at least they got a decent lift! I'd probably be dead had I had to climb all those stairs!"

Daniel Reilly chuckled softly and turned serious. "After Dr Richards explained the situation and the precautions he had taken the district and the judges felt it prudent to follow his suggestion. After all, we have the facilities, according to Dr Richards, and we see no reason to doubt his word in light of past experiences. And we have all subjects pertinent to the case assembled. So why take the risk of shipping them off to the station?"

"You guys feel you owe him 'cause of the memory player, Danny," Tyler retorted with a scoff to which Reilly just shrugged noncommittally, "So, where is my client?" he asked impatiently, his lips compressing into a thin line.

Ranma's brows had climbed into the hairline during the exchange between the two men. It had become readily apparent that they knew each other well as evidenced by being on a first name basis, and that seemed to indicate that this Andrew Tyler knew his onions. What that would mean for him he couldn't divine as of yet.

"Dr Richards?" Daniel Reilly prompted.

Reed inclined his head and beckoned the group to follow him. Ranma trudged absently behind She-Hulk, silently wondering what the uncertain future would hold in store for him.

-.-

Ranma's head was still swimming a bit as he thought back to where Reed Richards had led the group. It was apparent that the genius scientist had been busy in his absence as he had created a pocket dimension that was dimensionally shifted to the side and accessible via an unassuming looking door in his lab.

It so happened that Reed had had his bots outfit the mini dimension not much bigger than a hundred square metres as a last resort measure should the Fantastic Four ever need to interrogate captured super villains or aliens, and it fitted Ranma's current needs perfectly.

Seeing as the bubble forming the pocket dimension offered such limited space to work with Reed had had two rooms created, one ten by seven metres and the other ten by two metres with a height of three metres. The remaining space of ten by one metres served as a buffer with a small hallway in the middle connecting the larger interrogation room and the cell.

The interrogation room itself was held in plain white colours with no decoration whatsoever. Necessity dictated the room be windowless, and that, in combination with the fact that all kinds of recording and surveillance equipment had been installed along with visible and not so visible offensive and defensive weapon systems to keep prisoners in check led to a very oppressive feeling.

A row of eight black, highbacked chairs had been placed alongside the longer leftmost wall, apparently with observers in mind. A large oak desk of three by two metres dominated the room, and six chairs of the same design as the visitor chairs had been placed around it, two alongside the longer sides each and one alongside the shorter sides each.

Reed had explained that the desk and chairs had been fused with the flooring so as to prevent their usage as weapons in the unlikely case the tightly shackled prisoners broke free. It had been with apparent pride in his voice that the leader of the Fantastic Four had explained that even his teammate Ben Grimm would have his troubles getting the hand and foot-cuffs off.

Then Reed had shown them to the prisoner. It turned out that the 'buffer' was riddled with weapons that would stop any attempt at a 'prison break', ever, provided the prisoner managed to get past the forcefield. Such an action, Reed mentioned, would at least be remotely possible in contrast to trying to break through the titanium-adamantium alloy the walls, ceiling, and flooring were made of.

Not just Ranma had been impressed, and when asked why not every prison was equipped like this, Reed's face had scrunched up, his retort being that not everyone had the financial assets to build a prototype like this. Then Miles Warren had been let out of his cell and had been led to the IR, and the questioning had begun in earnest with Reilly, his detectives and Tyler as well as Warren taking up the chairs at the desk. The police officers had taken up position, Reed had taken to working the equipment, and She-Hulk and Ranma had sat down on the visitor chairs.

An hour into the interrogation of Miles Warren his public defender was visibly ready to rip out his remaining hairs. Not only had the green-skinned man calling himself the Jackal answered every single question truthfully thereby shovelling himself deeper and deeper, but Andrew Tyler's every single move at establishing a defensive strategy had crumbled utterly when Warren freely admitted to having committed what he was accused of. And in painstaking detail to boot.

The experimental usage of Dr Richards' memory player, patent pending, playing back the key moments had clinched everything. Miles Warren was guilty as sin, and not even experienced defender Andrew Tyler had a prayer in hell to get his client out of the pinch he was in.

That would require a miracle or heavenly intervention, and Andrew Tyler believed in neither, which was not lest due to the fact that his mother used to beat him while preaching of how God would punish him for being such a rowdy boy, driving all faith out of him as time passed by. When he had been older he had sworn to himself that the next and last time he would enter a church would be in a pine box carried by his friends, if at all.

"I'm through with him," Andrew Tyler finally uttered with grit teeth, "There's no way in hell any kind of deal could be worked out with that kind of evidence against us."

"You got that right, Andy. A clearer cut case I seldom have had to deal with in my entire career. All the more reason to clear this up for good," Daniel Reilly ground out with a grimace.

"That's good to hear. When can we expect the new trial then?" She-Hulk cut in.

"I'll push for next week, Miss Walters. The sooner this embarrassment is sorted out, the better," Daniel Reilly responded decisively.

Ranma shook himself from the stupor he had become immersed in and squashed the dark little voice screaming that everything had gone over way too easy in favour of concentrating on the present. "Sir, now that the interrogation is over, may I ask Warren a question?"

Daniel Reilly regarded the young woman for a moment before nodding his head. "Sure, go ahead."

The martial artist inclined his head in thanks and swivelled it to regard Miles Warren, a cold expression settling on his face. "Warren, why did you create that second clone of me?"

The Jackal turned disinterested eyes on Ranma. "Because I could. My genius demanded that I succeed in creating a stable clone of such a fine specimen as you, and let me tell you, it was fun toying around with your genes! Pity I didn't have time to make more clones of you."

A cold feeling of dread enveloped the raven-haired young man, but his stomach was not the only one to drop at the possible implications. "'Toying around with my genes', Warren? What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing much. You see, your cells can be super-charged with this energy I've yet to name, allowing for astounding feats. Your clone even told me there were others in the Nerima ward of Tokyo that could do it too and I'd have loved to research this. But alas, I've been foiled.

"To get to the point, using some strange, untapped power source that was present in your genetic makeup I managed to allow your clone to super-charge his cells to a much higher degree than what you're capable of," Warren retorted as if speaking about the weather, "In case you're wondering why you beat him, I assume he wasn't angry enough. Like with my former favourite son, anger is needed as a trigger to activate the ability."

It was at that precise moment that a wave of energy rolled over Manhattan that gave every ki adept a blinding headache.

-.-

_Earlier_

A woman thinking of herself as Ranma Saotome stumbled through the alleyways of Manhattan, her mind a jumbled mess as a flurry of thoughts cascaded through it. She was barely able to keep up the Umi-Sen-Ken hiding her from that... not-twin of hers as her feet carried her away in directions unknown.

After walking for what seemed like hours and feeling she had put enough distance between herself and her other she looked around for passersby and brought down her Umi upon finding none. Without conscious thought she shifted to male, her mind feeling the subconscious need to be in her stronger form.

His thoughts running wild this Ranma's face scrunched up. **'I... I lost! But losing ain't the problem, I always bounce back and find a way to win in the end. No, the problem is, did that other Ranma tell the truth? Is he the original? No! No, Ranma! No self-doubts, never self-doubts! This other me said or did nothing to prove that he's the real deal!'**

The walkway and the people turned into a blur as he walked on for an unknown amount of time with his hands in his pants pockets with his mind still going a mile a minute when he was suddenly startled out of his thoughts by a voice. "Ranma-sama? My, it is you!"

The clone looked up and took in his surroundings, noting that he was in a dank back alley in a location he didn't know. As a result he instinctively switched into a defensive stance, causing the black-clad woman, who had apparently read him, to remove her black basecap. "Kodachi?" he inquired curiously.

"It is I, my Ranma-sama! And here I searched this wretched city far and wide for months without finding hide nor hair only for you to come walking into my arms! It must be fate!" the Black Rose exclaimed happily and hugged him, her hands touching his.

The other Ranma began to feel lightheaded and confused after a few seconds and his body tried to fend off the sneak attack it was subjected to, but the fight against the original had been too taxing. Thus the fight was over before it even begun. The clone's eyes glazed over, and standing a few centimetres away Kodachi Kuno smiled. "Do you see now, my Ranma-sama?" she inquired almost demurely in Japanese.

"Yes. I can't believe I've been blinded to your beauty for so long, Kodachi-chan," the clone rejoined solemnly and his blue eyes darkened, "So that you will never be taken from me I must ensure that the other me dies!"

Surprise raced through Kodachi's mind due to the fact that she hadn't gained complete control over Ranma. **'But then again, this is my Ranma-sama we're talking about. If anyone were able to resist my control it would be my wild stallion!'** she thought, and stumbled over what he had said, "'Other you', Ranma-sama?"

"Yes! I have been cloned by a mad scientist, and my clone believes himself to be the real Ranma Saotome!" the clone exclaimed heatedly and passionately, his anger rising.

"What!" Kodachi exclaimed angrily while inwardly thinking, **'Renarw made another one? How dare he!'**. Outwardly her expression formed a deep scowl, the corners of her eyes holding a stiffness that easily conveyed her displeasure. "This insult cannot be tolerated! There can be only one Ranma-sama, and that is you! The fake must be dealt with!"

"Oh yes... just thinking about him and how he claimed to be the real Ranma makes me so mad! How dare he!" the clone exclaimed, not noticing how the air around him began to bend and warp. Kodachi whereas did, and showing that her survival instincts were intact she stepped away from the softly glowing Ranma whose light golden aura was getting steadily brighter until she had reached a dumpster.

Deciding to err on the side of caution the young woman stepped behind the dumpster and carefully peered out to see the young man muttering to himself until suddenly a shout tore from his mouth. At that moment a bright golden shockwave of energy emanated from his body that passed through everything, and to Kodachi it felt like a physical blow that sent the young woman on her shapely posterior, an unladylike "Ooof!" escaping her.

The glow subsiding just like the ringing in her ears Kodachi pushed herself into a sitting position to glimpse upon a very satisfied looking young raven-haired man. One moment the man Kodachi Kuno thought to be Ranma Saotome stood a good twenty metres away, in the next he was in front of her, kneeling down with his right hand proffered to her.

Blinking once Kodachi took his hand and experienced a brief feeling of weightlessness as the young man pulled her effortlessly to her feet. Their noses almost touched but Kodachi saw no hint of nervousness or shyness on his face as was so often the case in the past, and not able to resist the young woman crushed her lips to his.

Kodachi was very pleased when he reciprocated and moaned deep in her throat, but the manners instilled in her kept her from going any further. She pulled back reluctantly, a bittersweet smile on her face that only grew in intensity when she saw the slightly surprised look on the face of her Ranma-sama. "It is not acceptable for people of our standing to make out in public, Ranma-sama. And don't we have to take care of something first? After all, it is as they say, business before pleasure. I can see a lot of pleasure ahead of us, Ranma-sama!"

"I like the way you think, Kodachi-chan!" the clone retorted with a lewd grin that made Kodachi blush, but his face scrunching up in thought made the raven-haired woman turn serious as well, "I am certain that my clone sensed what just happened to me-"

"If I may interrupt, what was it that happened to you?" queried Kodachi curiously.

"Somehow my anger opened up a much greater well of energy for me, Kodachi-chan! It is like a dam that sealed off a lot of my power just... broke! I feel much stronger, and I swear I will wipe the floor with my clone before putting him out of his misery!" Ranma retorted with narrowed eyes.

"My Ranma-sama! You're so manly when you talk like that!" Kodachi downright swooned.

Right then a light drizzle began to descend from the skies, but much to Kodachi's astonishment no change in genders occurred in the martial artist. "How...?" was all the Black Rose was able to utter.

"Oh, you mean this? Why I didn't change? Well, I gained control of the curse, dear. I only change when I want to," Ranma explained smugly and demonstrated this fact by changing to female and back.

"This is great, Ranma-sama! I'm so happy for you!" Kodachi crowed and clapped her hands, "Now what do we do about your clone?"

"Squash him as soon as he gets here!" the cloned martial artist exclaimed decisively.

"Squashing sounds good!" a female voice exclaimed from behind them, causing Kodachi to whirl around, "Mind if we join in?"

"I've sensed you miles away, woman. Who are you?" the clone demanded.

"Name's Shriek, and this is my pet, Doppel. I sensed that... energy-spike and thought it would be fun to see what kinda chaos it'd cause!" the pale-faced woman exclaimed, an insane glint in her eyes.

"To be absolutely clear a priori, peasant woman: Ranma-sama is mine!" Kodachi hissed through clenched teeth.

Shriek, annoyed by how the raven-haired young woman addressed her resorted to using her sonic powers in an attempt to influence the younger woman, but was only met by a raised brow that screamed boredom. An insane smirk grew on the older woman's face. "I like you, girl. I think we'll get along famously!"

"Whatever," Kodachi replied with a dismissive gesture, "As long as you keep your fingers off my Ranma-sama we are fine."

"Gotcha! How about we sow some chaos now?" Shriek demanded eagerly.

"Do as you please," Ranma said with a shrug, "Chaos and mayhem is likely to attract him, which means an easier time for me!"

"Just see to it not to kill! My Ranma-sama and I have no need to kill the peasants of this city as we're so clearly above them! There's only one we want to kill!" Kodachi commanded in a tone that left no room for backtalk.

A gleeful grin spread on Shriek's face and she upped her sonic output right away, affecting the whole city block. "Let chaos rule!"

The Ranma clone said nothing to that and limited himself to waiting. Even as chaos erupted around them and people began to loot shops, even as fights broke out he remained rooted to the spot with his arms crossed, his expectant gaze searching the afternoon skyline. Whatever Kodachi had done had left him with clarity of mind, a single-minded focus. It was either him or the clone. There could be only one.

-.-

A few kilometres away in the Joketsozoku embassy Kuh Lon, matriarch and leader of the Chinese Amazons, blinked in shock. Her hair stood on end due to the intense wave of energy that seemed to have swept over the whole of New York City, and the worry lines on her face deepened.

The old matriarch shook her head minutely and a neutral expression appeared on her aged face. Getting out of the plain wooden chair Kuh Lon crossed her spartan room and reached for the phone sitting on her oaken desk. Picking up the handset the old woman dialled, and Kuh Lon did not have to wait long for her counterpart to respond.

"Li Lac, our perseverance has paid off. Son-in-law has resurfaced. Prepare our warriors for immediate take off!"

Getting the affirmative Kuh Lon hung up, her face stony. "Why did you reveal yourself now of all times, son-in-law, and so strongly to boot? What are you up to?"

Shaking her head Kuh Lon mentally prepared herself, muttering, "It is as they say with you around, sonny-boy, may you live in interesting times."

Taking one last look around the room the almost amused expression faded from her face and Kuh Lon walked out to meet her troops, their mission objective simple yet endlessly complex: bring Ranma into the tribe.

-.-

_Three minutes ago, Four Freedom Plaza, New York City_

"Oh no," Ranma whispered with wide eyes, shock edged into his features.

Daniel Reilly, the detectives and officers glanced about the room with uncertain expressions on their faces, the assistant district attorney muttering, "What the hell was that?"

"It felt like someone just walked over my grave," Detective Arden whispered with a shudder.

Her comment elicited agreeing comments from her colleagues, and Ranma turned serious eyes on the civil servants. "If only it were so," he sighed, his face looking like he had just swallowed something unpleasant, "then I'd be able to avoid a lot of bruises! What you just felt was my clone getting angry enough so that he activated what Warren spoke of! He's become strong enough so that our next clash's gonna hurt!"

"Reports are coming in about a riot near Rockefeller Center," Reed spoke up in a grave tone that caused worried looks all around, "It could just be that this event is connected to what happened to Ranma's clone!"

"Rockefeller Center's just half a mile away! That'd fit with how close that unleashing of energy felt!" Ranma exclaimed and nodded a few times, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face, "But why my clone would condone a riot is beyond me as it's something I sure as hell wouldn't do!

"Warren," Ranma turned to face the mad scientist, "any idea why my clone's behaving so differently from me?"

"He was made to obey my orders, but who knows, maybe something went wrong during the cloning process," Miles Warren said with a shrug and added, "Things like that tend to become apparent over time."

"And devil may care," Ranma muttered with grit teeth, "You're really all heart, Warren."

"What do I care if he kills a few people here and there? My plans failed, so what?" Warren retorted uncaringly.

Ranma, along with the others, stared at the madman in silent disbelief for a few moments, and shook his head. "Right. Mr Reilly," he began, his voice filled with purpose, "I have to go out there and stop my clone. You've seen in the video what I can do, now imagine someone with the same skills, just stronger! I know him inside out, I'm the only one who can stop him!"

Daniel Reilly regarded Ranma for a long moment before answering. "You want to save him, don't you?"

A sigh escaped Ranma's lips. "He's innocent in all of this. He didn't ask to be created by Warren, nor did he ask to be turned into a pre-programmed lapdog. It's not his fault, he shouldn't have to pay for Warren's sins!"

A sinister laugh coming from Warren made everyone turn their heads. "If he turns out anything like Kaine his 'innocence' will soon be gone," the mad scientist mocked and cackled madly, "Oh silly me, I forgot that I ensured that he will turn out worse! And with the power invested in him by me the city will go up in flames!"

"He ain't like that!" Ranma retorted hotly only to pause, "Unless... You asshole!"

"What is it?" Detective Felton asked urgently.

"Ranma just arrived at the same conclusion as I... Isn't it so that you left instructions behind in Ranma's clone in case your plans would fail? Instructions to do as much damage as possible?" Reed queried in a disgusted tone.

Mr Fantastic's words caused worried looks to appear on the faces of the civil servants and Miles Warren cackled madly. "It is. I wouldn't be too surprised if the first casualty reports came in soon."

Ranma barely restrained himself from strangling the laughing Warren and turned beseeching eyes on Daniel Reilly. "I promise I will turn myself in later, but I gotta stop my clone! There's no telling what another me without inhibitions or scruples could wreak!"

Daniel Reilly thought hard for almost a minute and had just opened his mouth when Reed Richards suddenly spoke up. "There's a breaking news report from CNN coming in! Relaying it to the screen... now!"

The large viewscreen flared to life, and all eyes were literally glued to it. _"This is Marty Reynolds of CNN! Live from Rockefeller Center where chaos is reigning! But see for yourselves!"_

The camera swivelled to show a street filled with people rioting, cars and shops burning, men and women alike destroying shops in bursts of uncontrolled violence. It was utter mayhem, and the camera moved on to show a man standing in the middle of the street like he was the eye of a hurricane, his arms crossed across his chest. The camera zoomed in, showcasing the man's confident expression. _"I know you can hear me, clone of mine,"_ he said over the sounds emanating from the rioting folk, _"I want a rematch, 'cause I'm sure ya know, Ranma Saotome doesn't stay defeated for long! If you're half the man I am you'll come! Otherwise I'll come for you and we'll see how this city takes it! Your choice!"_

The clone's right palm began to glow and an energy blast rocketed towards the camera. Seconds later, there was nothing but static.

A grave silence hung over the living room of the Fantastic Four like a blanket. Daniel Reilly finally tore his eyes away from the static-filled viewscreen, his head turning to regard Ranma with a very serious look. "You have my full permission to do as you suggested. Do what you must."

Ranma returned the look in kind and nodded solemnly. "I will," he said almost softly and steeled his resolve while thinking, **'I guess it was just too good to be true****.**** As soon as something good happens to me the bad follows on its heel. But fuck that! Life gave me lemons, I'm gonna make me fuckin' lemonade! And I'm gonna save you as well while I'm at it, 'brother'! This I swear!' **

-.-

Ranma, having walked over to the window, swivelled his head when someone cleared their throat. "Yes, Jen?" he asked the Jade-green giantess.

"I'll go with you, Ranma," She-Hulk said in a tone that was dead-serious and brooked no argument, "This way you won't have to worry about the rioters and can focus on your clone."

The young man's face scrunched up in contemplation for a few moments, then he nodded. "Agreed. Don't wanna sound blunt, but I could use help in knocking some sense into those people, and you _are_ damn intimidating when you want to be, Jen."

As the last bit was delivered with a smile on Ranma's part Jennifer took no offense, a small smile quirking up the corners of her mouth. "Don't I know it," she replied and flexed her muscles before immediately turning serious, "Ready when you are."

"Good," Ranma nodded before turning his head to look at the other occupants of the room and Daniel Reilly in particular, "I don't know when we'll be back. Don't wanna sugarcoat it, but I have a feeling that this fight's gonna be one of the most difficult of my life."

Daniel Reilly nodded in understanding, his face utterly serious. "Understandable, Ranma. I am in no way a fighter, but even I could feel... whatever it was your apparent clone did. Just get back when you're done, and Godspeed."

"Ranma, I-"

"Dr Richards, no. You said you're standing by to see if your wife and the others need your help. Jen will deal with Kodachi and the rioters, I'll deal with my... brother," Ranma said decisively, "There's just no need."

A soft sigh escaped the genius scientist. "Just be careful, Jen, you too, Ranma."

"Will do," Ranma nodded with She-Hulk ascertaining her agreement with a brisk nod, "Jen, we'd be able to get there the fastest if I were to take you piggyback."

She-Hulk raised an inquisitive brow, prompting Ranma to explain. "I can glue your body to my back using my ki, much like Spidey can. Using the webshooters he gave me we can get there much quicker than if you were to jump."

"If you say so," She-Hulk mused with a shrug, ignoring the murmurs from the officers that found her quick acceptance of Ranma's claims odd.

Ranma positioned himself in front of the window and She-Hulk climbed aboard and slung her hands around his neck. The young man didn't even grunt as he accommodated her not so insignificant weight, and adjusting a bit to take her height into account Ranma glued Jennifer to his back using Sym's inherent abilities while simultaneously bleeding ki into the room to make it credible. Nodding at Reed who understood his intent and made the window disappear Ranma inclined his head. "We'll be back."

Turning back around and listening to the well-wishes with half an ear Ranma jumped and fired his webbing. Then they were gone.

**to be continued...**

Some quick notes:

- Ranma's clone and Kodachi hooking up: Basikampfire's review gave me the idea. Dunno if it's original enough for your taste, but it gave me all sorts of inspiration, especially on how the showdown is gonna end.

- the new and improved clone: ain't telling too much other than that a potential stemming from an altercation in Ranma's 'old life' has been unlocked in the clone through Warren experimenting with things he had no clue about.

- the story winding down: there's still a few chapters left until the conclusion, so don't worry, there's more than enough happening till then. And yes, that includes the Nerimans as well.

- Andrew Tyler's literal lack of faith: not my personal opinion, rather how this character wanted to be written.

- giving Felicia a complimentary curse: I don't think I'll go down this road seeing as Ranma and Felicia are happy as they are.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services and my readers in general. There's probably tons of others I'm forgetting, so let this be a general shout of 'Kudos, as usual!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s)**:

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**That said, keep 'em coming'! :D**


	22. A blast from the past

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 22: A blast from the past**

Kuh Lon felt weariness seep into her old bones as she led the nine Amazon warriors under her command, her great-granddaughter Xian Pu among them, to where she had felt the energy spike generated by her former son-in-law, but she ruthlessly suppressed it. The Elder had to take brief evasive action not to run a citizen over, and watching her great-granddaughter out of the corner of her eyes as she determinedly marched on, her head held high, Kuh Lon had to suppress a fond smile. The Elder knew that Xian Pu, despite her outwardly stoic face, could hardly await seeing Ranma again, and she felt the same, even if for a different, yet similar reason. They still had a chance.

Ranma may have been declared 'unsuitable' by the vast majority of the Elder Council after the happenings in New York, but the old biddies on the Council were regretting their 'supreme, irrevocable decision' now. Especially seeing as Ranma's proven innocence was making some serious waves back home. Their clan had no claim to Ranma any longer either due to 'that ruddy stupid decision' as Kuh Lon privately referred to it, but she surmised their chances of getting the thoroughly disillusioned and bitter individual Ranma was bound to have become as pretty good. Especially seeing as they planned on bringing Ranma into the tribe not just as a male, but with full rights. The loss of face the Council had just suffered came along with a hefty loss of power, a loss Kuh Lon's clan benefited from greatly as they had carte blanche as long as they acted within the boundaries of Amazonian law. And Kuh Lon intended to make full use of it.

The now undisputed Matriarch of the Joketzosuko quickly and efficiently organised her thoughts with a meditative technique and schooled her features into impassivity. She neither paid heed to the odd looks passers-by threw her scantily clad warriors and her as they marched forward through the concrete jungle of New York City at a brisk clip – with her pogoing on her staff as per usual when she wanted to get somewhere quick – nor to the comments, but when they rounded the corner that would lead them to their elusive target the Amazon matriarch could no longer suppress the feeling of unease that crept up her spine. Something felt very wrong.

Her eyes widened of their own volition as she took in the scene before her, that being at least fifty denizens rioting like uninhibited primals for lack of a better term. Chaos, destruction and mayhem were prevalent, but what really drew the eye were neither the six-armed costumed monster nor the pallid, insane looking woman, but a young man standing in the middle of the street seemingly without a care in the world.

"Interesting company you keep, son-in-law," Kuh Lon said calmly, her voice modulated to easily reach the young man.

Ranma's clone turned his head deceptively lazily, but Kuh Lon almost shivered when she saw the coldness in the young man's eyes. "That is something you've never seemed to grasp, old ghoul, I ain't your son-in-law. Never was, never will be."

"Not true! Ranma Shampoo's Airen! Love Shampoo!" Xian Pu called out, and added almost stubbornly, "Is law must marry Shampoo!"

The clone cocked his head to the side, rolled his eyes and almost sighed. "There's only one person I love, Shampoo, and that's not you! Wake up, I ain't ever gonna marry you!"

"Sacred Amazonian law says otherwise, sonny-boy. Besides, we stood by you and believed in your innocence when no one else would, not even your beloved Akane Tendo," Kuh Lon interjected before Xian Pu could retort and destroy her chances at convincing Ranma to join the tribe due to the fact that everyone else had abandoned him.

"I ain't got the faintest whatcha talking 'bout, old ghoul, but this is getting bothersome. Shriek, Doppelganger, knock 'em silly, but don't kill 'em. Ko-chan, support would be appreciated," the clone said and cracked his neck, "I'm gonna deal with the old mummy!"

Kuh Lon sighed as her plans went up in smoke. This hadn't turned out the least bit how she had envisioned, but the fashion in which things had gone south bothered her. This would have to be looked into at a later date, once Ranma had been subdued.

But thoughts of victory were quickly driven from Kuh Lon's mind as a fist came screaming in lightning quick, and while she batted said fist away with her staff the matriarch got the surprise of her lifetime when the hardened, ki-conductive wood shattered from the blow, pieces of wood raining down to the ground.

Eyes widening in disbelief she caught sight of a cocky grin she had seen so often before accompanied by an amused look in sapphire-blue eyes that briefly seemed to be alight with fire, and her own eyes hardening even as her warriors were in the process of being overwhelmed by the strange spider-like monster and the pallid, energy-blast wielding woman Kuh Lon turned all of her attention on the fight.

-.-

_Five minutes later_

Ranma ignored the sensation of the wind whipping past him in favour of concentrating on getting to Rockefeller Center as quickly as possible. Neither the cool, crisp afternoon air nor She-Hulk's shapely body pressed into his back, her arms slung around his neck, phased the young man in the slightest, his single-minded focus on the upcoming battle and the question how he would be able to save his 'brother'.

The urban canyons turned into a blur as Ranma took turns at break-neck speed, and when the duo swung into the 49th Street they could already perceive the chaos and mayhem sown by the rioters. "Jen, I sense Spidey's twisted, monstrous Doppelganger ahead, plus a woman that has attacked me before. That Doppelganger thing's not human and is gonna kill without remorse. Got the chance take it out, permanently!"

"Got ya! Read the reports about it, and I agree! Mindless killers like it are high on my pick off list," She-Hulk retorted levelly.

"Good. I'm gonna... Oh fuck me sideways! That's Cologne and Shampoo and several other Amazons I'm sensing! All of 'em beaten! Crap! Woulda never thought that he'd have so little problems beating the old ghoul, but then, he's me, and I'm fucking good," Ranma muttered to himself, "Anyway, I'm gonna drop you from up high. Fuck the property damage and de-escalation tactics, we gonna shake some sense inta them!" Ranma groused.

"As much as I want to disagree, I can't. These folks are clearly beyond reasoning," Jennifer Walters ground out.

"No doubt about that. Ready?" Ranma inquired tersely as they closed in.

"I was born ready!" She-Hulk shot back confidently.

"Good! We should have some support soon as well, I feel others closing in! Try getting the Amazons to safety, you'll know who they are! Now, Godspeed, Jen!"

"Jeronimo!" She-Hulk yelled as she let go off Ranma three kilometres above ground.

The host of Sym slowed his approach and watched She-Hulk's descent in almost morbid fascination, and seven seconds after drop off the green skinned female impacted the street below with a resounding crash. The impact sent debris and dust flying high up into the sky, and the fact that they had carefully chosen the point of impact ensured that none of the rioters were injured too severely.

The beaten and bruised Amazons had luckily – or unluckily – been blasted into a tea shop by She-Hulk's landing, fact that elicited a briefly sheepish expression on her face and a wince on Ranma's part, but the Joketzusoku were mostly out of harms way, much to the ex-Saotome's relief.

Ranma could see a myriad of emotions on the faces of the rioters ranging from confusion and fear to rage and hate and everything in between, and just when She-Hulk righted herself up he felt and sensed an energy impulse originating from the lines behind the rioters. The Doppelganger fired his razor-webbing at the same moment as the effects of the impulse manifested itself, said manifestation consisting of sending the rioters into a blind fury.

Phasing to the ground just as Jen grabbed the razor-webbing without even flinching Ranma fired his own webbing in rapid succession at the rioters, picking them off like shooting fish in a barrel, while She-Hulk reeled the surprised Doppelganger in, landing a devastating uppercut to its chin. The trajectory of the punch was thus that the already unconscious creature was sent flying backwards towards a construction site, the strength behind the punch ensuring that its accidental encounter with an I-beam jutting out of the brick shell led to an instant death.

Doppelganger's body had just slumped, all signs of life gone, when a horrified shriek that turned to one of murderous rage emanated from Shriek. The pallid woman immediately flung a sizeable lance of white energy at She-Hulk, but the jade-green giantess calmly stood her ground and used her right hand to bat the energy beam into the sky, and then, quicker than most were able to follow, clapped her hands in what could only be called a thunderclap.

The resulting shockwave sent rioters and Shriek alike to the ground, inducing dizziness and in some cases outright unconsciousness. Shriek got to her feet with difficulty, murderous rage gleaming in her eyes. The pallid woman was about to attack anew when suddenly a black-clad woman literally stepped out of a tree. "Yes, let us avenge your pet and make these peasants pay. So sayeth I, Kodachi Kuno!" the young woman exclaimed and let her trademark laughter echo across the street.

A few metres behind She-Hulk Ranma's eyes widened before narrowing in hate, and his ki involuntarily spiked wildly. "KODACHI!" he bellowed in rage and ripped off his face-mask to glare at her, the battle aura suddenly appearing around his body bending and warping the very air.

The female Kuno's eyes widened at the enraged shout, but before Ranma could do much of anything a fist impacted his chin out of nowhere, sending him flying backwards.

-.-

Jennifer Walters stared in shock at the spot Ranma had occupied a few seconds ago and which he had involuntarily vacated. In his place stood another young man who almost looked like Ranma's twin safe for the fact that he was a few centimetres smaller, and when the man turned his sapphire-blue eyes on her with a look of utmost confidence that dismissed her as a threat before blurring forward She-Hulk did not know whether to feel insulted or just plain glad.

Taking a moment to wish Ranma well seeing as he would apparently need it She-Hulk returned her focus to her own fight just in time to see all kinds of plants, vines and roots burst out of the road in an effort to ensnare her.

Due to the speed with which it happened the attempt actually worked, but the poisonously glistening thorns trying to puncture She-Hulk's skin just broke on contact, and seconds thereafter Jennifer Walters had ripped the ensnaring fauna to shreds.

Jennifer then raised her head and a smile came to her lips as she saw Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider picking off the rioters with their webbing, rendering them harmless, and tensing her muscles she jumped, her jump taking her behind the plant user that had identified herself as Kodachi Kuno.

Restraining the young Asian woman's arms She-Hulk was surprised when the raven-haired female offered no resistance – not that it would have done her good – but whispered something instead, prompting Jennifer to lean down.

This proved to be her undoing as Kodachi Kuno suddenly and quickly crushed her lips to She-Hulk's own, and before Jennifer could use her vastly superior strength to free herself it was already too late. A confused look flitted over She-Hulk's face, then suddenly her eyes glazed over and her arms fell to her sides, letting go of Kodachi Kuno. "What is your wish, Mistress?"

A superior smirk appeared on the Asian woman's face and she turned around, revelling in the exclamations of confusion coming from Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider at the strange turn of events. "Pound them," Kodachi pointed at the Spider-Men, "into the ground and keep away any peasants that may try to lay their dirty hands on me!"

Up above Scarlet Spider turned to his 'brother' and gulped just as She-Hulk replied, "Your wish is my command!", muttering, "Got a plan b?"

-.-

Ranma had rolled his head with the blow, but the fact that he had to shake said head a few times to blink away the stars swimming in his vision told him that his clone did indeed pack a damn meaner wallop this time around. His feet dug into the pavement and created a long trench as he tried to slow down his flight, but when he saw the other Ranma closing in fast he gave up on this luxury tactic and fired his webbing from his web shooters at the pavement, using the lines of webbing as a slingshot that swung him around.

As soon as he came to a stop in the middle of the street Ranma had to fend off high speed attacks, and although the power and speed behind the blows of his clone had increased he was still able to easily keep up. Ranma, even though he sensed the deadly intent with which his clone was coming at him, allowed himself to lose himself to the battle and simply let it flow.

After an exchange of blows at beyond Amaguriken speeds that saw no one as the victor Ranma's clone blurred backwards to gain some distance and immediately launched a barrage of energy blasts at the original, but Ranma dodged and weaved around the projectiles with ease and countered with energy attacks of his own.

Said attacks were fend off with equal ease, and Ranma was relieved to see that the clone mirrored his actions from before, if unwittingly or not Ranma could not discern, as he sent the energy blasts high up into the sky where they detonated harmlessly.

This picosecond of inattentiveness stemming from cogitating about things not directly pertinent to the battle cost Ranma as he was said picosecond too late to block the roundhouse kick to the head that sent him flying backwards. **'Fuck, I feel like I was hit by Ryoga!'** the former Saotome groused and immediately had to fend off Amaguriken punches from his clone who had reappeared above him in a burst of speed.

Ranma and his clone raked each other with attacks emulating gunfire while still flying down the street – Ranma from the force of the blow, the clone due to his own speed – until Ranma abruptly adhered his right foot to the street, and using it as a pivot point he abruptly lashed out with his left foot.

The speed behind the sudden attack ensured that it hit the speeding clone in the back of his head, and the force behind the blow made sure that the other Ranma was sent face-first into the house facade of Rockefeller Center.

Peeling himself off the facade in a blur and a bit too quickly for the original to capitalise on, the clone appeared in front of Ranma with a hard look in his eyes and apparently decided to up the ante by aiming a right-handed Amaguriken punch for the originals' abdomen, which Ranma again blocked with ease. Seconds later the two were back to trading blows at Amaguriken speeds.

Ranma shot a roundhouse kick to the clone's head that found only air, and moved his right hand just in time to block a punch to his abdomen, then his right hand to stop the clone's knee from crushing his nose. Ranma then switched to offense and performed a chop-claw-kick combo that, albeit flashy looking, was ineffective before the clone's excellent defence.

**'Damn, fighting myself is really... troublesome,'** Ranma thought to himself as he blocked blow after blow, inserting his own ever so often without really getting anywhere.

After a vicious exchange of energy blasts with most cancelling each other out an even more determined expression crept on Ranma's face as the resolve to end this madness once and for all grew. His battle aura began to rage around him as he drew on the well of energy that had only grown in the months he had spent in New York City, but his clone saying, "So this is how you wanna play it, eh?" and him beginning to draw on some kind of energy that felt eerily familiar almost stopped him cold.

"Wha-" he had time to say before his clone reappeared right in front of him. Sapphire eyes glinting like chips of ice the clone launched a kick-punch-roundhouse-kick-combo at the original, and Ranma was unable to block the last kick despite his powered up state.

The air brutally driven from his lungs Ranma stumbled back and barely managed to perform a backflip just in time to avoid another punch to the head. The other Ranma didn't let up and rushed the original, and before he had any chance to mount a defence he was kicked hard in the head by a roundhouse kick that sent him flying backwards. **'Sym, stop holding back! He's too strong 'cause of whatever energy that is, can't afford to rely just on myself any longer.'**

– _**I do not understand why you chose to limit yourself like this nor can I grasp why you insist on not showing our combat suit, but at least you are starting to see reason, –**_ Sym grumbled and augmented his host like he normally would, resulting therein that Ranma immediately regained his footing after performing several spectacular acrobatic feats, _**– By the by, I am currently browsing your memories to cross-reference where you encountered the energy your clone is using before. –**_

**'I got a feeling it must've been some time in the recent past,'** Ranma retorted while blocking blows from his clone, **'Concentrate on the last year or so.'**

– _**Agreed, –**_ Sym replied and returned to the task at hand.

Returning his focus to the fight Ranma batted away a punch aimed for his solar plexus and dropped into a low combo ending in a hard, fast sweep that the clone barely avoided by jumping backwards. "So you're not completely useless," the clone taunted, a cold glint entering his eyes, "Good! That'll make taking you apart bit by bit even more fun!"

"Do you even listen to yourself? Killing's not what we do, it's a last resort!" Ranma shot back heatedly.

"Do too, to prove that I'm the original!" the clone retorted with a glare, "I killed Saffron to save Akane, and I'll kill you to protect Kodachi-chan!"

**''Kodachi-chan'?'** Ranma thought bewildered, **'Has the cloning process gone that wrong?'**

The clone rushed forward, and what followed could only be called a brutal exchange of blows as almost anything the Anything Goes had to offer was used. Ranma had just batted a Moko Takabisha into the skyline when Sym demanded part of his attention.

– _**I have just made an interesting acoustic observation. Peter warned the other heroes in the vicinity not to let Kodachi Kuno come close enough for tactile contact. It has become apparent that she can place others under her control by touching them. Jennifer Walters has already fallen prey to her, –**_ Sym summarised.

**'Fuck!'** Ranma thought back while fending off blows, **'That also explains why my clone called her 'Kodachi-chan'. He's under her control!'**

Ranma felt Sym nod, a spin-kick followed by a ki-blast keeping the clone at bay for the moment. _**– A likely theory. –**_

**'Wheew. I'm relieved that it's mind control and not something else,'** Ranma thought to himself as his left forearm stopped a spin kick.

– _**Indeed. What is more, I have finished analysing your memories. The energy your clone is using, or more specific, the energy that is bleeding into his ki, is similar to the one you encountered in the being called 'Saffron', –**_

**'Saffron?'** Ranma interrupted incredulously while stopping an elbow from crushing his nose, **'But how?'**

– _**It is but a theory, but you were exposed to high levels of magic during the time you spent in and around Nerima. The culmination however was your battle with Saffron. You were exposed to incredible amounts of magic, from Saffron himself as well as from the weapons called 'Gekkaja' and 'Kinjakan'. I believe that your body absorbed some of the magic.**_

– _**This is consistent with a well of unstable energy within you that I have never touched due to the risks involved, but it seems that Warren had no such scruples and tapped said well of power when he... fooled around, for lack of a better term. Needless to say, it is a miracle that your clone survived at all. It was a lot more luck than judgement that Warren succeeded, but it seems that succeed he did, –**_ Sym concluded gravely.

**'Bloody... Fuckin'... Dipshit!'** Ranma swore and performed a spin kick followed by a punch-kick-roundhouse-kick-blast-punch-spin-kick-combo, and the clone was not able to block the last kick due to the speed and power behind it. **'I don't fancy having to fight a magic powered me.'**

Watching the clone fly backwards Ranma had the time to listen to Sym's reply. _**– What if we were to cut the fight short? Consider, he is your clone in each and every aspect. So which former weakness was cloned as well? –**_

The time it took for Ranma to arrive at the pertinent conclusion was more than sufficient for the clone to take back the fight to the original again, and the epiphany almost gave the clone an opening. **'The NEKO-KEN?'** he almost bellowed in his mind, his right arm coming up just in time to prevent the other Ranma's right foot turning his head to mush.

– _**So the repairs to your brain were not in vain. I am glad, – **_Sym teased.

Not deigning Sym with a reply Ranma acted quickly and blurred forward, grabbed the other Ranma's ankle, spun him around a few times and let go. The throw launched the clone straight into a housewall, but the other man somersaulted and used his ki to cling to the wall.

Glaring down at the original the clone drew on more of what Sym had assumed to be Phoenix energy, and this time he was enshrouded in a fiery aura that made even his eyes glow like they were on fire. **'Oh oh...'**

Ranma hadn't even finished the thought when his clone blurred back into being in front of him, and he barely managed to block the first barrage of punches the clone had thrown at him despite Sym enhancing him. But he hung on by a thread and kept up somehow, and thus he was able to return the favour with a roundhouse-kick-punch-blast combo.

**'Now he's almost as strong as me even with you enhancing me, Sym! Any ideas on how to use the supposed Neko-ken flaw?'** Ranma thought urgently.

– _**There is a pet shop in 734 9**__**th**__** Avenue. Lure him there, and let the cats they are sure to have do the rest, **_–

**'And when he goes Neko you will help him overcome it the same as you helped me,' **Ranma cut in, mentally nodding.

– _**That is a possibility, –**_ Sym thought back and winced when the clone's fist impacted his host's face.

Ranma stumbled back from the blow, nodded mentally in reply to Sym's suggestion and turned around, immediately firing his webbing, secure in the knowledge that his clone would follow him.

And follow the clone did.

-.-

Kuh Lon slowly opened her eyes and immediately regretted it as she was assaulted by a splitting headache. "My head," the old matriarch muttered, "I can't believe Ranma cleaned my clock this thoroughly!"

Her bones ached worse than ever as she got to her feet wobbly, and sighing to herself the Matriarch did what Ranma hadn't given her time to do and retrieved a replacement staff from subspace. "But that is the question... was it Ranma at all? The man I fought clearly used Ranma's style, but he was far too... ruthless. Ruthless enough to take me by surprise. Be it as it is-"

Interrupting herself her head whipped around as she felt a large ki-spike, "What is this? Two Ranma's? Oh Goddess, as if one wasn't enough!

"Just good that we rescinded the Outsider protocols when it comes to Ranma. I'm a few hundred years too old for being a wife," she muttered with a shake of her head and went about waking her charges up.

"Although, his face would assuredly be a sight to behold if he were told I was his wife," Kuh Lon mused thoughtfully, "Maybe I'll pretend that it is the case just for kicks!"

The manic cackling emanating from the destroyed tea shop prompted a flock of birds to spontaneously migrate to Florida, and it cannot be ruled out that it caused a sizeable increase in nightmares in the city block in months to come.

-.-

Ranma fully concentrated on staying ahead of his clone as he passed the Radio City Music Hall building on 50th Street, and coaxing every ounce of energy out of his system he turned into a blur. Winter Garden Theatre passed by in a flash as did Gershwin Theatre and New World Stages. Ranma ignored his clones' taunts that he was a coward all the way, but just when his destination came into view an unbelievably hard blow to the back of his head sent Ranma into a housewall.

Ranma blinked away the stars and barely had time to swallow the blood pooling in his mouth seeing as his clones' left foot came screaming in at his head. The escaped convict blocked the kick with one hand, cupped the other and fired a Moko Takabisha at his clone at point-blank range. The slightly smaller man deflected the beam with one hand and smiled. "This would be fun if I didn't have ta kill ya!" he said.

"And that doesn't tell ya that there's something seriously wrong with ya? I reiterate, we don't fuckin' kill if we can help it!" Ranma almost shouted.

The clone glared and was about to retort when he suddenly gripped his temples with his hands, a pained gasp escaping him. Ranma, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth jumped upward and forward, his outstretched right leg kicking out and hitting the clone in the left temple. _**– It appears that your clone is fighting the programming and /or the mind control. Make haste and implement the plan! –**_

**'Gotcha!'** Ranma thought back and ran towards the pet shop in a blur, but another blur appearing in front of him blocking his path stopped him cold. Sapphire-blue eyes glinted coldly and the clone popped his knuckles menacingly. "Hoh boy, sometimes rolling out of bed just doesn't pay off!" the original muttered.

-.-

**'Damn, it's just a few more metres, and I really don't fancy going through him, but there's nothing for it,'** Ranma thought to himself and popped his own knuckles.

A determined expression appeared on Ranma's face, and an arrogant smirk on his face he made a come hither motion. And come the clone did. All of a sudden he leapt into the air and blurred out of sight so fast that the untrained eye would never have been able to follow, and reappearing in front of Ranma he tried to nail the original with a roundhouse kick to the chin.

The former Saotome twisted his body to the side, planted his right hand on the ground and kicked out with both feet, hitting the clone in the side and sending him flying. A somersault later and much quicker than Ranma had anticipated the clone appeared in front of him anew and they were back to trading blows, and on just one occasion Ranma got a punch in and hit his clone in the cheek.

But the other Ranma just smiled coldly and quickly returned the favour. **'Fuck, there's no getting past him. He obviously realised what I was planning and is stalemating me till he gets his next boost. What now?'**

– _**Form claws on one of your hands and punch him through the chest. That should buy us enough time, –**_ Sym suggested.

**'Are you crazy? He'd die!'** Ranma retorted hotly.

– _**Not if our theory is correct. And admit it, there is no other choice for he will overwhelm you soon. So make up your mind and fuck your idea of not revealing the abilities granted by me. It was all nice and dandy up till now to fight him without the combat suit, but now your life is on the line. **_

– _**I would regret having to get a new host, – **_Sym replied.

**'Right. I can always claim at the trial that what happened here is not for their eyes, and seeing as there's no one around... Make it so!'** Ranma thought back, and adhering his feet to the sidewalk he let himself be hit instead of blocking. He ignored the pain flaring up in the right side of his torso and quickly formed three energy claws granted by integrating the Neko-Ken on his right hand, thinking, **'Revised plan, Sym!'** and punched out, catching the surprised clone, who had expected Ranma to be sent flying, in the left lung.

A disbelieving expression appeared on the other Ranma's face and he stumbled backwards, his left hand pressed on the wound, bloody foam forming at his mouth. The original briefly winced before seizing his chance.

– _**Funny you hit him in the pulmo sinister, –**_ Sym commented just as Ranma kicked his clone in the head for good measure, sending him flying to the left, _**– For that was downright sinister. Well done, my host, even though you missed his heart on purpose. –**_

Ranma groaned mentally both at the terrible pun and the reprimand as he sprinted into the petshop, yelling, "Listen up, I'm YinYang Spider and being chased by an incredibly strong foe! Get to safety!" as soon as he had pushed open the door.

The former Saotome then blinked seeing as there was no one inside except a bored looking male clerk in his thirties. Said clerk just shrugged. "Thas fine pal, wanted ta grab me somethin' ta eat anyway."

Ranma didn't even bother to reply and opted to start his search for one of the former banes of his existence instead. It didn't take him long until he struck paydirt, and Ranma made haste opening the latches on the numerous cages containing cats.

He had just opened the last latch when he felt an agonising pain in his chest just where his heart was, and a gurgle escaping his lips Ranma collapsed flat on his face, blood flowing from his mouth. He was dimly aware of a multitude of soft thuds, but couldn't make heads or tails of their nature through the haze of pain.

– _**I was not able to warn you in time. His last boost unsurprisingly made him even faster, and he penetrated your chest from behind with a ki-enhanced punch coated with fire that even bypassed me. It made short work of your heart, –**_ Sym said calmly like someone talking about the weather.

**'My... heart? Ain't that... ya know... fatal?'** Ranma thought back with great difficulty, blood running freely out of his mouth.

– _**Oh ye of little faith, –**_ Sym sighed, _**– It assuredly would have been fatal prior to our stint on Earth-525, now it just takes our combined abilities a few minutes to heal the damage. For the slow of mind, no, not fatal. Oh, and just for the record, your clone had no qualms about hitting your heart, unlike a certain someone I know, no? –**_

**'Smartass,'** Ranma retorted weakly, his vision fraying more and more around the edges, **'So why... ain't he... finishing me?'**

– _**I would say a) because I took the liberty of lowering your ki output to next to nothing with a decreasing curve one would expect of a dying man and b) because he is a little preoccupied, –**_ Sym retorted smugly.

**'The plan's... working?'** Ranma thought back almost incredulously and breathed a little easier as his healing factor kicked in.

Sym snorted almost disdainfully. _**– Was there ever any doubt? Just for you, in small words: yes, it is working. The cloning process was as perfect as we had assumed. He is reacting as predicted, the cats as well. You, of course, cannot see it, but he is surrounded by cats and on the verge of panicking... Correction, he is panicking. –**_

**'Sym, help him... confront the... Neko-ken just... like you did... with me!'** Ranma interrupted urgently.

Seconds passed and Ranma could feel Sym's reluctance. **'Do it, ya... overgrown amorphous blob... or I'll rip... ya off... myself! Go before... he goes... neko, I'll... hang... on, Sym!'**

Sym's reservations overcome not least due to the insult – something Ranma almost never resorted to these days – the symbiote did as requested. The pain Ranma was in seemed to increase tenfold, and gnashing his teeth hard enough to crush diamond he briefly, blood dribbling from his lips, asked himself if it was worth it. Seeing that he was now in for a dollar he directed his ki to aid his regenerative powers and sent a prayer to Kami-sama before succumbing to unconsciousness.

-.-

An unknown amount of time later Ranma felt awareness return to him as something nudged him gently. He rolled over on his right side and away from whatever it was that was disturbing his slumber, but the someone intent on waking him turned out to be insistent.

"Come on, Ranma, wake up!" he heard his own voice say in Japanese.

"Go 'way... 'm sleeepin'..." Ranma mumbled.

"Be that way," the voice said and seemed to move away. The sound of footsteps could be heard moments thereafter. "You brought this on yourself!" the voice then said from right next to him.

The next thing Ranma knew was cool fluid hitting him in the face, and sputtering indignantly the man-turned woman shot into a sitting position. "What the bloody hell didcha do that for!" she complained, wiping the excess water from her eyes.

Her vision clearing she blinked, blinked again and then again, before tentatively asking, "Clone-kun?"

The man in front of her sighed and nodded sheepishly. "Your friend here helped me 'see the light'. He also told me that it would be safe to wake you."

Ranma patted her chest, a surprised expression flitting over her face. "I feel good, even if hungry enough to eat a horse. How long was I out?"

The male Ranma nodded. "Almost twenty minutes. And Sym said it'd take a lot out of ya. Sym... It's only thanks to him and you that I'm... in control of myself again. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Ranma retorted with a smile, her expression turning to one of empathy as she shook her head, "It must've been horrible for you."

"More than you know," the clone muttered and shook his head in disgust, "Bloody hell, I can't believe I let Kodachi Kuno control me like this... Goes to show that I'm just a cheap copy of the original."

Ranma smoothed out her costume and sat up straighter, glaring at her clone. "So you weren't born by a mother but made in a lab, so what? With a mother like ours it doesn't matter!"

The clone winced. "Point. Sym showed me what happened to you seeing as you were busy playing Sleeping Beauty. But-"

"No buts! Your life isn't worthless, you aren't worth less just because Warren made you!" Ranma retorted hotly and took a deep breath, "Sym helped you get rid of all external influences, right?"

"Yeah. Sym helped with the Neko-ken, and when it integrated it purged everything from my system," the male Ranma agreed and activated the energy claws of his right hand, "Still can't believe it, but it's wicked!"

Ranma smiled lightly, acknowledging the point, but her expression quickly turned serious. "So there. Warren's programming's gone, as is the bitch's mind control. You're your own person now, more so with the gift Warren inadvertently gave you! You know, the Phoenix powers? Ring any bells?" she asked sarcastically, her hands on her hips.

"So that's what it is," the cloned Ranma muttered, "Even in the haze I had wondered."

"You're unique, 'cause I sure as hell don't have powers like you! That difference in our powers, our experiences, that's what sets us apart, makes us diverse! That's what makes you more than 'just' a copy," Ranma said with conviction in her voice, and her face softening she added, "Don't be so hard on yourself, brother that I never had. Especially as you're the only family I have left outside of pops."

The clone's eyes widened, but the surprise was quickly overcome by a look of self-loathing. "How can I be your brother when I almost killed you? You should be dead by all rights!"

"Hot damn, am I always this stubborn?" Ranma complained and briefly looked skyward before turning empathic eyes on her clone, "Look, you're probably gonna say that you weren't good enough, that you weren't strong enough to fight off Warren's programming and Kodachi's mind control. You know what? You're right," she said and ignored the shocked and surprised expression on the other Ranma's face.

Before he could say anything though, Ranma held up her hand, signifying that she hadn't finished yet. "This will be with you for a good long time, bro, but in the end you must come to the realisation that you're only human. Regardless of how skilled or powerful we are or may become, we are not perfect or without weakness. Even we, as advanced as we are, are subject to the fallacies that ail the human race. We... Are... Only... Human. Now hug me."

An expression of abject surprise on his face the other Ranma crossed the distance separating them and engulfed the female original in his arms. Ranma's arms enveloped the clone as well and all tension faded from her. "I'm so glad I didn't have to kill you, bro. I somehow knew you could be saved, knew you deserved that I gave my all, and Kami-sama above be thanked, it worked. I finally have someone like me, someone who'll never betray me, and I can't thank Kami-sama enough for it."

"That you got, sis. But are you so sure you could've killed me? I'm pretty certain I'd have whooped your ass," the clone said cockily.

"Had I used full combat suit mode from the get go I'd most likely have been able to kill you quickly, yes. Remember Saffron, the more damage wrought in the least time the better. And I can inflict a lot of damage very quickly in CM. But you're right, it would've been a close thing, even with my regenerative powers," Ranma admitted.

"Did the prison and Sym really make that much of a difference? Did it change you so much?" the clone asked softly.

"You mean that I lay off the bravado and boasting and stuff, that I'm calmer and more mature? That I'm not afraid to act female when I'm a woman?" she asked and felt her clone nod, "In short, yes. A wonderful woman you've yet to meet helped a lot too. I- oh."

"I can feel them too," the male Ranma muttered with a sigh, "And I think it's time to return a little something, or rather someone before I face the music," he added, and not a second later Ranma could feel Sym slithering up her right hand and arm, "Even though Sym says that he'd have loved to stay a bit longer as my body's comfy too."

Ranma mirrored the grin and shook her head. "Cheeky symbiote. Dunno where I'd be without her, but I'd probably be dead."

"I'm not so sure 'bout that. You'd have found a way," the clone mused, and his face turning serious and grateful he added, "Thanks for saving me and thanks for the heads up, sis. Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome, bro. And never forget, life's not about who we are, but about the choices we make," Ranma said softly.

"Gotcha," the clone nodded seriously.

The symbiote had just reintegrated herself when the front and back door were kicked in simultaneously, and SWAT teams came swarming in. "What the bloody hell's going on here? New tactic, hug your enemy to death or what?" a male voice sneered loudly.

Ranma sighed and softly removed herself from the hug. She then turned around briskly and glared hard at the offending Lieutenant. "I'll have you know that my brother's just recovering from a very traumatic episode! He was placed under mind control by an enemy of ours, one Kodachi Kuno! Is it any surprise that he needs consolation?"

"And what's with all the blood that's splattered everywhere? Lady, that's the biggest load of-"

Narrowing her eyes Ranma read the name plaque and glared. "Lieutenant Ferris, the blood's mine," she interrupted in an impatient tone, "A little blood's spilled here and there in fights of this calibre. Sometimes more, sometimes less."

The man's posture stiffened. "Look-"

"Chief, I got a report in that known fugitive Kodachi Kuno is involved in the riots around Rockefeller Center! Report states that she somehow swayed She-Hulk to her side. Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Captain America, Ironfist and other heroes are barely able to keep them stalemated despite outside help from scantily clothed young women and a four foot tall shrivelled something on a stick!" a tall Sargeant to the right of the Lieutenant cut in.

"Stevens-"

"We gotta get there fast or there's gonna be casualties!" the clone ground out.

"Agreed. I've seen how fast you are, you run and I go by webbing. Last one there's a panda!" Ranma retorted with a grin.

"Gotcha, sis. Prepare to lose!"

"Now wait a minute! Y-"

"By the time you'll have taken us to the station for questioning there'll be deaths, Lieutenant, and they'll be on your hands 'cause you stalled us! So excuse us, but we ain't got no time for your protocols! Sayonara!" Ranma sneered and took off like a bat out of hell.

The male Ranma grinned cockily, and his eyes lighting up with fire he gave a mock salute aimed at the Lieutenant, quipping, "What my sis said," and blurred away, leaving a steaming and cussing SWAT team leader behind.

-.-

Ranma was certain she had set a new web-slinging speed record when she swung into 49th Street, but a voice speaking up from an adjacent building to the right disabused her of that notion. Grumbling a bit to herself about phoenix-empowered clone-turned-brothers Ranma changed course and touched down on the building's rooftop, levelling a playful glare at her 'brother'.

"Took ya long enough, sis. Oh, and who's the panda now?" the male Ranma taunted good-naturedly, but quickly turned serious when he gazed at the battlefield. "It's complete chaos down there. Everyone's keeping their distance from Kodachi thanks to the warning about her powers, and the heroes are indeed stalemating the green-skinned woman I assume is She-Hulk. Just like Stevens said. Bloody hell," he exclaimed and winced when She-Hulk buried both fists into the pavement, causing the road to buckle wildly, "we gotta end this fast. And I know how."

"You do?" the original asked almost pleasantly surprised, "All my ideas involve beating the tar out of She-Hulk before picking off Kodachi, but going up against Jen is... unpleasant."

Male Ranma nodded. "She moves like someone who's been taught the Art, even under mind control. And she's strong to boot, for a chick," he muttered and sheepishly scratched the back of his head upon the original's glare, "But trust me, I got this. Kodachi trusts me, I'm gonna use that against her. Wish me luck."

"Godspeed, bro," she exclaimed, and deciding that watching instead of showing her face was the better part of valour if her 'brother's' plan was to work Ranma kicked back and used her enhanced vision to observe the going ons, a light drizzle raining down from grey skies.

She almost missed her 'brother's' reappearance behind Kodachi despite her skills, and despite the distance separating them coming up to round about three hundred metres she could see and hear everything perfectly.

Her 'brother' had enveloped Kodachi from behind, fact that seemed to please the insane Kuno woman. She-Hulk briefly stopped in her actions just as everyone else, but evidently evaluating the threat level to her Mistress as virtually non-existent the Jade-green giantess picked up where she had left off, that being attempting to swat the highly elusive Spider-Men.

"You're back, Ranma-sama. Did everything go as planned? Is that abomination dead?" Kodachi whispered huskily as the clone stroked the right side of her face with his right hand.

Up on the building Ranma's eyes widened as three energy claws popped out of the knuckles of her 'brother's' left hand, the hand he had hidden behind his back. She knew with absolute clarity what would happen now, and her eyes hardened. "It's better to make a painful break than to draw out the agony," she muttered to herself.

– _**Indeed. Her agony will be comparatively brief, but her end is fitting as her 'Ranma-sama' will literally break her heart. Oh, he is about to do it. –**_ Sym commented.

Ranma nodded and listened to what her clone was saying to Kodachi. "Damn, he's a sweet talker. But I'm not certain if I should feel angry or grateful that he's about to put the bitch out of her misery-"

Just then Ranma's 'brother' said, "Sayonara," and forcefully thrust his clawed hand right through Kodachi's heart.

The clone removed his arm from Kodachi's chest seconds thereafter and let the fatally injured woman slump to the ground where she came to lie on her right side. A look of confusion, betrayal and fear shone in Kodachi's eyes as she looked up at her killer, and blood pooling in her mouth and dripping down her chin from the corners of her mouth in rivulets she whispered, "Why?"

Ranma's 'brother' sighed, but his eyes remained hard and he ignored everything around him, the fauna that was rising up from the ground and trying to grab him before withering and dying before it even had a chance and even She-Hulk's cries of pain as the mind control lost its hold on her. "Because you destroyed the original Ranma's life. Because you were too dangerous to let live. And because I didn't want your blood on Ranma's hands. He's been through enough already, it was on me to deliver your betrayal's reward, Kodachi Kuno. May Kami-sama have mercy on your soul and grant you the sanity in death that you lacked in life."

Kodachi opened her mouth to say something, but other than pained gasps no sound escaped her. The puddle of blood staining the street steadily grew bigger with every beating of her destroyed heart, Kodachi's eyes quickly became glassy and not more than a minute later Kodachi Kuno had drawn her last breath.

The perpetrator of Ranma Saotome's fall was dead.

**to be continued**...

Some quick notes (not much to say this time around, really):

- the clone's powers: I always thought that all the magic Ranma's been exposed to should have some effect, as sufficiently explored by other authors, but here it needed a mad scientist playing God to jumpstart them. But more on that later on in the story.

- the Neko-ken: I'm well aware that the canon (and out of control) version of the Neko-ken makes Ranma's fingers act like claws, but the version granted by the integration is different

- Kodachi's death: not much to say to that. Bet a lot of ya didn't see it comin...

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services and my readers in general. There's probably tons of others I'm forgetting, so let this be the usual shout of 'Kudos!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s)**:

Maric, Dragon Man 180, ranma hibiki, GNesnios685, Orchamus, firelordeg, god of stuff, Kumori Shadow Kage, Jimbobob5536, Dumbledork, GeorgeTobor, mystery person, James Axelrad, .reads, Danyael Prince, Hanzo of the Salamander, sparky555, hitmanmarco, Seth O. Blade., elliepw, Jerry Unipeg, Fanboyimus Prime, Rocco13, Bobboky, Lord Edric, Wonderbee31, Pryde Kitty, Radio Driver, Anon42, They call me Bruce, Tangent, Jlargent, Merme, DragonCynosure

Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2011, everyone!


	23. Ghosts from the past returned!

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

_

**Chapter 23: Ghosts from the past - returned!**

The sound of a gunshot split the air, and Ranma, just like everyone else, was instantly devoted to a course of action, that being homing in on the assailant rather than futilely trying to stop the bullet. The futility aside, most could dodge the bullet, and those that couldn't would be pushed out of the way.

Due to her impressive reaction time the host of Sym was already in motion while others were still debating about a course of action, her being in her female form ensuring that her greater speed took her to the attacker lightning quick.

To one Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher, Ranma's appearance in front of him on the tall flat-roofed office building he was standing on happened out of the blue. The tall man barely had time to blink, and by that time the woman in the guise of YinYang Spider had already grabbed the sniper rifle and wrapped it around his upper torso, effectively trapping his arms.

A burst of speed and a kick to the back of the knees later dropped The Punisher to his knees, and another burst of speed brought her to in front of the man. Her coldest glare levelled at Frank Castle she hissed, "Why were you attacking my bro?"

"Lady, check the trajectory, will ya?" The Punisher retorted in a calm, almost annoyed tone.

Ranma, wary of a trick, finally decided to comply, her brows climbing into the hairline when she arrived at a conclusion. "You missed on purpose? Why?"

"Didn't miss, lady. Hit what I wanted ta hit right on the mark. If I still had my scope you could verify that," Frank Castle replied and added, "Heard there was a spot of trouble and decided to see for myself."

Ranma narrowed her eyes, reached behind the man's back and ripped off the scope, bringing it to bear on the general location of Castle's shot. The man's ironic comment of, "That'll work too," was ignored. Ranma's eyes widened again when her gaze fell upon a twitching body that had been thrown backwards into an alley by the sheer force of the bullet perforating its right shoulder.

"I see. Good job," Ranma said and freed the man, and not sparing Frank Castle another glance she jumped down and fired her webbing, swinging towards the alley.

"Thanks," The Punisher muttered dryly and shook his head, "Strange chick, that one."

The 'strange chick' in question was meanwhile closing in on the alley she had seen through the scope, and a few seconds later Ranma touched down right next to her clone, the Spider-Men and She-Hulk. "Oh my Kami-sama!" she exclaimed as soon as she identified the barely recognisable figure, "That's..."

"Sasuke," the clone confirmed grimly, "Kodachi did quite the number on him."

'Quite the number' was a huge understatement. Sasuke's hair had been replaced by brown-coloured, ever moving veins, and something seemed to be constantly moving under his visible skin as well. The same brown veins extended from his fingertips and were flailing about wildly, and Ranma supposed the same was true for his feet. "She turned him into some kind of plant," she breathed in disgust.

"Or at least part plant, sis. Feel for his ki, his body is rejecting the foreign matter. But it's not enough. He's dying. Poor bastard," the clone muttered, his expression grim.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him?" Ben Reilly asked in a voice that clearly conveyed his unhappiness with the situation.

"No, nothing. He'd die in the time it'd take to get him to the FF, for example," Ranma sighed, only for her eyes to brighten, "Unless... I just had an idea! It's so crazy it might just work! Bro, you remember how Saffron's energy healed him, right?"

"Yeah. But what are you getting a- Oh. You mean seeing as I got the same energy as Saffron and can regenerate myself I should try to use that energy to heal Sasuke?" the clone more stated than asked, and upon receiving a nod his expression got doubtful, "Yeah, that sounds crazy alright! But seeing as-"

Ranma picked up where her clone had trailed off. "Seeing as he's as good as dead and that there ain't alternatives it's our best and only shot."

"Right," the clone acquiesced, his expression firming as he tried to call forth the magic Warren's experimentation had given him. His eyes closed and he felt for the well of energy he had only ever accessed involuntarily before, and finally succeeding he opened his fiery glowing eyes and placed his hands, both of them glowing, on the thrashing Sasuke's chest, "Here goes nothing," he muttered, knelt down and began to pour the energy into Sasuke with the express intent to cleanse and heal.

The others could just watch with bated breath as Ranma's clone continued his work, and a minute later he looked up, visibly spent. "That seems to have stabilised him. He- fuck!"

"What's happening? Damn, there's something wrong, it isn't working!" She-Hulk deduced from the sudden wild trashing and screams of agony emanating from Sasuke.

Peter Parker had his eyes closed behind his mask. "He's fading, and fast."

"Yeah. Damn, I hate when something like this happens!" Ranma ground out and watched helplessly with her friends and acquaintances as the last vestiges of life fled Sasuke's body.

"Damn it!" the clone grunted and buried his right fist up to the biceps in the ground.

"There's nothing any of us could've done, and trying out my crazy idea was worth a shot! It ain't your fault, bro!" Ranma said softly and knelt down next to her 'brother', engulfing him in a one-armed hug, "He was beyond saving. Sometimes that's just the way it is."

"That's a cold comfort, sis. He didn't deserve an end like this," the clone whispered, his eyes closed.

"Hardly anyone does. But then again, life isn't fair," Ben said sagely.

"It hardly ever is," She-Hulk agreed, "So don't be too hard on yourself."

The clone opened his eyes, removed his fist from the hole, shook off the earth and plaster and sighed. "I hate losing like that! But you guys are right, he was probably too far gone," he mused, got to his feet and walked to Sasuke's head. Kneeling down he gently closed the former servant's eyes. "Rest in peace, little ninja. May your soul go to a better place."

Ranma said her own prayers, and the three super heroes bowed their heads to pay their respects. Opening her eyes roughly a minute later Ranma exhaled forcefully. "I know it's bizarre and sad, but his death probably freed him. I didn't know him very well, but as devoted as he was to Kodachi, I don't think he'd have liked to exist as this weird mind-controlled plant-creature if he'd had the choice."

Murmurs of agreement followed Ranma's statement, and recomposing herself the redhead looked at her clone. "It's probably not legal, but I say we should give him a proper burial. Bro, I know you can use fire like Saffron, can you, like, incinerate his body?"

"I think so. But why not let the police take the body away later?" the clone asked.

"Betcha Ranma's worried what our resident insane scientists would make of his body," Ben commented wryly.

"There's that, yeah. I don't fancy the thought of someone discovering the secrets behind this mind control thing Kodachi had going, which is why I'll strongly suggest Kodachi's body be cremated as quickly as possible," Ranma retorted.

"I should dissuade you of this, I really should," She-Hulk muttered and shook her head, "But I fear you're onto something. Make it quick!"

"Don't look at me. You won't get any arguments from me," Spider-Man said with Scarlet Spider nodding empathically.

"Very well," the clone said, and concentrating hard on calling up the magical power within he closed his eyes, focussing on creating a large ball of fire in his right palm.

Opening his eyes he saw that he had succeeded, and he smiled at the look of pride and slight envy on his sister's face. Returning his focus to Sasuke's body he was about to fling the fireball when suddenly Sasuke's corpse began to spasm. The clone's hand halted in mid-movement, his brows climbing into the hairline. "What the-"

"Fuck!" exclaimed all present in unison, and they watched the supposed corpse of Sasuke shudder and spasm in morbid fascination, and then, with a huge intake of breath the former Kuno retainer's eyes shot open and accompanied by a grunt that conveyed severe pain, as every plant-part on him disintegrated.

Sasuke blearily looked around in confusion, and a second later his eyes rolled into the back of his head and all tension left his body. Sasuke Sarugakure was out like a light, but distinctly alive.

-.-

Ranma needed a moment to recover from her utter surprise. "Well, would ya look at that, it worked!" she exclaimed and clapped her brother on the left shoulder.

"It's probable that the energy you entered into his system needed a while to fix the damage. Hence why his body shut down so quickly that it seemed he had died," Spider-Man theorised.

The clone seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and nodded slowly. "Yeah, maybe. But it was still way too close to failure, Spider-Man."

"That may be, but it worked out in the end. And what you just did proves more than anything that you're not an evil clone, man. Believe me, I know all about 'em evil clones!" Spider-Man said with a sidelong glance at Scarlet Spider.

"Oi!" Ben Reilly exclaimed mock-indignantly.

"The webhead's right, umm, clone-kun," She-Hulk spoke up, "Your actions, the killing of Kodachi Kuno aside, speak for themselves. I don't know if I can be your defender seeing as I'm already Ranma's, but I'll ensure you get the best. Aside from me, of course."

"I... Thanks," the clone replied, his tone filled with heart-felt gratitude.

"Think nothing of it," She-Hulk waved it aside with a smile.

"`The best aside from you´? Ego much, Jen?" Spider-Man teased.

"Seeing as I have the necessary gravitas, hell yeah!" She-Hulk replied mock-earnestly.

Peter Parker knew better than to make weight-related jokes around allied females and just inclined his head. "Perhaps. But I gotta admit, I'm kinda relieved you turned out to be good, clone-kun. I know what YY here's capable of, so the thought of someone evil with her powers was... not of the good."

Agreeing sentiments came from everyone, and Ranma grunted. "And that's another thing. I don't want to have keep calling my bro – or sis, depending on his wishes – 'the clone'. So I'll christen you Amnar."

"`Amnar´... Implying mirror image. I like it, sis," the newly christened Amnar said with a satisfied nod of the head, "That'll work until I've come up with something of my own."

"Even I have good ideas from time to time. Dogs and bones or something of the like, ne?" Ranma grinned before turning serious, "I'd say we deal with the Amazons next, for as much as we'd wish, they ain't gonna go away."

Amnar pinched the bridge of his nose and grunted. "I'm really not in the mood for their nonsense."

"Don't worry, I got this one. You grab Sasuke, bro, and you others should help Cap and the other heroes round up the baddies that are still at large," Ranma said, and seeing the hesitation in their postures she added, "Please! This chaos gives us enough time to deal with a major headache as the police won't go near this area with a ten-foot pole until the situation's under control. Please, Jen, guys!"

"You do make a good case, Ranma. I can hardly stand by idly while innocent citizens are terrorised by bad guys, can I?" She-Hulk asked rhetorically.

"She got me when she brought the puppy-dog eyes to bear," Ben Reilly shrugged and turned to Peter, "What about you?"

"Same goes for me," Spider-Man replied with an identical shrug, "Just make sure you got enough painkillers for this headache, Ranma!"

"Don't worry, we got this. Good luck out there, and thanks!" Ranma retorted and was about to jump high into the sky when Ben Reilly held up his right hand.

"How about I take this Sasuke character to the FF? This way he'd be in good hands and well taken care of, and he wouldn't get in the way," he suggested.

"Good idea," Ranma mused with Amnar nodding in agreement, "But won't you be needed here?"

"Feh. New York City had to make do with one Spider-Man for years, they'll manage," Ben retorted with a shrug.

Amnar inclined his head, muttered "Works for me.", bent down to pick Sasuke up and handed him to Ben.

"Thanks, man!" Amnar exclaimed and nodded at Ranma, and then the two jumped high into the sky.

Their jumps took them directly to the body of Kodachi Kuno as that happened to be the location of the Amazons. Kho Lon was examining the body with the obscure means at her disposal and was just stowing away a strange looking artefact when Ranma and Amnar landed by her sides. "Greetings, son-in-law. Husband."

"Nihao, Airen," chorused the other eight Amazons minus Xian Pu.

"We do not recognise your laws, Elder Cologne," Ranma said in a cool and level voice, "And you have no means to enforce them or you would have done so during my stay in Nerima!"

"Don't try our patience, old ghoul," Amnar cut in coldly before Kho Lon could retort, "You will find we have none."

"Male do as told," the tallest and apparently oldest of the eight women claiming Amnar as their husband spoke up with a strict expression, her hands on her hips, "Come to village and make lots of baby girls!"

Before the other females could utter their assent Amnar shifted to female and let her eyes lit up with fire. "This woman does not want to. Got it?" she demanded almost pleasantly and let her Phoenix powers form a fiery aura around her body.

Kho Lon and her warriors, Xian Pu included, stepped back involuntarily. "This... Power!"

"I'm certain you recognise it, Elder," Ranma cut in smoothly, eliciting a sharp, weary nod from Kho Lon, "We don't want to have to act against you as you have helped me in the past, but we're sick and tired of being regarded as trophies. So let us get a few things straight.

"One, back then in your village right after I had been to Jusenkyo, that fight was over food, nothing else. It was in no way a challenge fight that would've allowed Shampoo to give me the kiss of death. Right or wrong?"

Kho Lon looked like she had swallowed something unpleasant and sighed. "Right. The situation got out of hand and the mistake was... overlooked."

"I'm certain," both Ranma and Amnar said dryly in stereo.

"But Ranma beat Shampoo!" the purple-haired Amazon insisted with a pout.

"That admittedly cute pout would barely have worked on me a lifetime ago in Nerima, Shampoo," Ranma said levelly and ignored the deepening of the pout, "As for me defeating you, you got hit by the ball of your own bonbori when I knocked it away! And once again, no challenge was uttered!"

"Yep. My memories say the same," Amnar agreed and crossed her arms underneath her breasts.

"But-"

"It's a good thing that the kisses were revoked, then," Kho Lon interrupted and sighed, rubbing her temples, "Ranma, what's keeping you from joining the tribe? You could have everything! Full status, access to techniques you could only dream of, if only you'd say the word!"

Now it was Ranma's turn to sigh. "It wouldn't work out, Elder. Shampoo spent most of her time chasing me with intent to kill when she thought I was just female, she even followed me all the way from China to Japan to off me as you well know!

"Then she had that one eighty and proclaimed her undying love once she found out I was a Jusenkyo customer! I just can't get over that."

"Air- Ranma no love Shampoo?" the Amazon asked, her expression downcast.

"First off, that you just corrected yourself means you know you don't have a leg to stand on, Shampoo," Ranma said in a voice that brooked no argument, her eyes hard, "As for love, I had made my choice at Jusendo seeing as I loved Akane, but we all know how that turned out.

"Ah, ah," the redhead interrupted sternly, "Don't get your hopes up! You know, Shampoo, all my so called 'choices' in whom I was to marry were forced upon me, either by my parents or external influences, and I refuse, absolutely refuse to allow anyone to tell me who to love or marry! It is my decision, no one else's!"

Ranma took a deep breath and shook her head. "That said, no, I do not love you, Shampoo."

A myriad of emotions flitted across Shampoo's face, her facial expression finally settling on anger. "Why not love Shampoo?"

Ranma's expression remained hard. "A lot of factors, Shampoo. You're manipulative, aggressive, you ruthlessly endanger others to reach your goals, you even used potions, mind control and a bunch of other stuff to make me love you! That's no basis for trust, and without trust there cannot be love!

"That may seem a bit harsh-"

"Yes!"

"Be that as it is," Ranma said with a shrug of her shoulders, "our past history and the fact that I don't love you and never will love you the way you want me to," here she paused, narrowing her eyes dangerously, "regardless of what you try, means that I can't offer you more than friendship.

"Besides, I'm already spoken for," she added with a soft smile that turned into a grin when Sym notified her of something she had felt as well, that being Felicia drawing nearer, "Ah, she's feeling better! Great!"

"Who obstacle! Shampoo k-"

Ranma's right hand shot out in a blur and pressed a point at the base of Xian Pu's throat. While everyone was reeling from the speed Ranma had exhibited and Xian Pu was opening her mouth and futilely trying to speak the redhead narrowed her eyes at the purple-haired Amazon. "I had to stop you from finishing that sentence, Shamps, or you'd have made me angry. You really wouldn't like me when I'm angry," she whispered in a soft but oh so dangerous tone.

_° Xian Pu, stop embarrassing us! Even if Ranma is a prime specimen, we have no grounds to continue our pursuit! °_ Kho Lon growled out in rapid-fire Mandarin, _° If you continue your attempts you're on your own, with all the consequences that entails! °_

**'Why did I understand that?'** Ranma asked herself in bewilderment, her face a carefully neutral mask that didn't give her thoughts away, **'Sym?'**

– _**I sifted through your memories and decoded enough so that you can understand what is being said, –**_ the symbiote elaborated a bit smugly.

**'Great work, Sym!'** Ranma retorted gratefully, seeing the immense tactical advantages in that.

Xian Pu silently fumed and kept pointing at her throat, eliciting a sheepish expression on Kho Lon's part. The Elder turned her head to look at Ranma, something that wasn't lost on the other Amazons and elicited gasps and shocked expressions, and only after the redhead had nodded Kho Lon undid the pressure point. Turning to look at her great-grandmother, her brows furrowed, Xian Pu retorted, _° I understand. But I want Ranma! There's no one like him! °_

_° You know as well as I do that the Council made the Supreme Decision to declare Ranma as undesirable for the tribe, once and for all. You know what that means! Even if I managed to overturn that, which is nigh impossible, would you want to give up everything for an uncertainty? Ranma. Does. Not. Love. You, °_ Kho Lon said harshly, and a sigh escaping her, her features softened, _° Your previous attempts should have taught you, love cannot be forced. That is why love potions and spells fail every time or end in tragedy! Our purpose here is served. °_

_° But - °_

_° Should you choose to continue your attempts you are now on your own. I will stall for a bit longer, but that is all I can do for you! °_ Kho Lon interrupted in a tone that was distinctly unhappy.

"Would now be a good time to mention that I understood every single word?" Ranma inquired calmly, her arms crossed underneath her breasts, "That 'Supreme Decision' bit was very informative!"

Kho Lon palmed her face and sighed. "You will understand why my great-granddaughter is so stubborn despite everything, Ranma. Your qualities make you a desirable mate, even more so now that you have matured. But-"

Ranma turned her head at the same time as the Elder and grinned briefly before refocusing serious eyes on Kho Lon. "But I'm off-limits and off the market. Which is something you need to understand, Shampoo. I'm not the same Ranma as before, if you push me I'll push back, hard. I don't want to, and I hope you don't force my hand, but I'm a blooded warrior. You should know what that means!"

The oldest and tallest Amazon growled. "You dare threaten-"

_° Don't, Cly Na. Our laws have no bearing in this matter, and we have wronged Ranma more than enough as is! °_ Kho Lon barked in Mandarin, and turning her head to look at Ranma as soon as her warriors relaxed their postures she switched to English, "It has been a wild ride, sonny-boy. Or do you prefer sonny-girl?" she barbed with a smile.

Ranma shrugged, her expression almost bored. "The latter's alright. Seven months of being female put things into perspective, let me tell ya. Add the extenuating circumstances... I should be a raving nutcase, but I pulled through, more or less," she mused non-chalantly, and her eyes darkening she added, "I didn't want to give _them_ the satisfaction of breaking, going mad or dying. It was the hardest time of my life, but I came out... whole."

"It must have been hard for you," Kho Lon almost whispered, true empathy resonating in her voice.

"More so than you'll ever know," Ranma agreed with a dark look, and she had to shake her head a few times to banish the ghosts from the past, "But it is in the past, as far as we're concerned. Elder, I cherish the thought that you believed in my innocence when next to no one did, but there's too much history between us. All I can offer is friendship," she said softly, and while her tone was soft her eyes clearly showcased her resolve.

Elder Kho Lon stared deeply into Ranma's eyes, sighed and nodded. "I had feared as much. Well, it can't be helped, and we have saved face at any rate. And besides-"

"Yes?" Ranma inquired, one scarlet brow raised.

"Well, there's always the other sonny-girl!" Kho Lon exclaimed with a cackle, "She did defeat us when she was male after all!"

A feeling of immense annoyance emanated from Amnar who had her hands curled into fists. "Don't even go there," the cloned redhead warned through gnashed teeth.

"I would heed her advice, and I really hope that was a joke," Ranma said coolly, "First, she-"

"Hey! I'm a boy, damn it!" Amnar cut it indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah, sis," Ranma retorted, waving the objection away, resulting in a stewing Amnar, "As I was about to say, Amnar was under mind control. Kuno Kodachi had her under her complete control-"

"I'll tell ya again, I ain't a girl!" Amnar interrupted crossly.

Ranma turned to her 'sister', her face sporting a look of patience. "I thought so too until my prison stint forced me to live as one. Had the choice to accept that I'm female, really female, half of the time, or to refuse it, go mad or die! Seeing as I'm standing here I obviously refused to break, and tell ya what, I feel more whole than ever. You said you know what I went through. So use it to come to grips with your own dual existence!

"And keep in mind, sis, a lot of this 'I ain't a girl!' bravado stems from how we were brought up, with intent to cater to the totally unrealistic and crazy expectancies of a woman who gave us away when we were five! The same woman who would gladly have abided by the fucking contract! The very same fucking woman that threw me into hell!

"That incentive enough to re-examine your beliefs?" she ground out, hands on her hips.

Amnar bobbed her head up and down, her expression sheepish. "Good," Ranma nodded, a small smile playing on her lips, the smile vanishing as soon as she turned to look at Kho Lon, "As I was saying, Kodachi Kuno controlled her. She was in no way or form responsible for her actions, and that includes beating the tar out of you! Got it?"

Kho Lon inclined her head before looking at the smaller redhead. "No offence, 'Amnar', but we would have a hard time justifying the risks trying to bring you into the tribe would bring even seeing that we now call the shots in the village. You are 'just' a clone, a copy of the original," she said with an apologetic shrug of her shoulders, "and thus not desirable. Copies do have a limited life-expectancy after all, don't they?" the Elder mused with a telltale twinkle in her eyes.

Amnar nodded in understanding, and Ranma inclined her head. "I understand, Elder Kho Lon. We understand. And I'd like to stay in contact, maybe even visit your village without your laws in play. Who knows, we could even spar!

"Once I got this mess sorted out, that is," she amended with a dark look.

"The messes you find yourself in are legendary, Ranma," Kho Lon agreed with a chuckle, "I might just look you up on that offer. And who knows, maybe this old woman can still teach you a trick or two."

"I'd like that," Ranma replied with a genuine smile, "Oh, and there's something else I'd like! I'd like you to meet the someone that helped me to rediscover life, the one that taught me that there's more than revenge and the one I trust implicitly-

"My girlfriend, Felicia Hardy!" the redhead exclaimed just as Felicia touched down on the street a metre away from them.

The tall woman let her Scarlet Widow face-mask fade away. "Red, 'secret identity' ring any bells?"

Ranma just shrugged, uttered an unconvincing "Whoops!" and crossed the distance separating them in the blink of an eye, engulfing Felicia in a tender hug. "I'm so glad you're feeling better, dear! I love you, have I told you that today?"

Felicia reciprocated the smile and laid her left hand on Ranma's bum. "Not yet. Can I hear it again? I forgot what it sounded like."

Kho Lon's brows had disappeared into the hairline at seeing Ranma and Felicia interact. She was certain she had never seen Ranma act this open, this genuine with anyone. It was evident from the sparks literally flying between Ranma and this Felicia Hardy that they had indeed lost.

A soft sigh escaped the Elder as she watched Ranma pull Felicia close, the redhead's left hand snaking down to her girlfriend's bum. "I love you!" she whispered and drew the other woman into a passionate kiss.

Amnar watched the happenings with a mixture of happiness and jealousy, but she quickly reigned her emotions in in favour of watching the Amazons' reactions. The eight Amazon warriors under Kho Lon's command were watching with mild curiosity, Elder Kho Lon had a knowing look on her face and was muttering about "Soulmates", but it was Xian Pu's expression that alarmed her.

The purple-haired young woman was sporting an intensely angry and jealous expression that only continued to grow in intensity as tender words were exchanged between Ranma and Felicia. Kho Lon, as distracted as she was from watching the couple, noticed it too, but neither Amnar nor Kho Lon were quick enough to prevent Xian Pu from reaching into her pockets and retrieving what looked like a cask the size of a large bucket using what seemed to be a derivation of the Hidden Weapons technique. The look of rage and betrayal never leaving her face Xian Pu threw the cask straight at the couple.

Amnar, a bit distracted by Kho Lon somehow blurring to and fro Xian Pu before the throw, heard herself yell out a warning as she knew even she had no chance to intercept the cask at such short a distance, but she needn't have.

Felicia phased out of the hug and flash-stepped to in front of Ranma, a shield as tall as a man generated by SD forming in front of her. The cask hit with force but shattered into tiny splinters upon contact with the unyielding wall, but its payload dispersed, showering Felicia.

– _**How interesting! –**_ SD mused to herself, _**– This is cursed water! Its nature resembles that of which Ranma came into contact with one and a half years ago! Hmm, why not have a little harmless fun and spice things up a bit? –**_

Cackling to herself SD formed tiny holes in her structure that allowed the fluid to seep through, and moments later a drenched Felicia uttered a strangled "Eep!" in a distinct baritone.

Ranma, who had seen the change like everyone else, gaped. She blushed a bit as she felt herself check Felicia's new form out and finding that her love made for a damn handsome man. The redhead blamed that observation on the current wiring of her brain, but the fury growing within her overrode these thoughts. Blurring to in front of Xian Pu the said Amazon was hoisted into the air by the throat, Ranma's vice-like right hand holding her at least twenty centimetres up. "Was. That. The. Real. Nannichuan?"

Kho Lon appeared at Ranma's side, only to be blocked by Amnar who had a no-nonsense look on her face, the power she was putting out and the fire literally dancing in her eyes keeping the Elder and her warriors at bay. A sigh escaped Kho Lon's lips. "Was it worth it, great-granddaughter?" she asked the purpling woman and shook her head, "Just be glad I realised what you were up to and took steps!"

Ranma's grip slackened a bit as her head whipped around to look at the Elder, allowing Xian Pu to draw a shuddering breath. Eyes narrowing at Kho Lon the redhead spat, "Out with it!"

Kho Lon held up her hands in surrender. "I have no idea how my great-granddaughter got her hands on permanent Nannichuan, meaning cursed man water suffixed with magic from the locking ladle, but she did! I assume she wanted to dangle it in front of your face to win you over, but I got sceptic the more I saw you act."

"And then you confirmed that you had accepted your dual nature! Xian Pu did not see it, and her world came crashing down around her ears when she saw the love between you and your mate. It devastated her. I then knew she would do something drastic, and exchanged the cask for one filled with Instant Nannichuan just before she threw it!"

"I... see," Ranma retorted, deciding not to call Kho Lon out on the obvious half-truth, "I wouldn't have thought that Jusenkyo water would be strong enough to get through her symbiote's hide, though," she mused absently, and pocketing her anger she inclined her head in gratitude, "Even though I do not fully approve of your strange sense of humour as the consequences leave me a bit weirded out, thanks, Cologne."

"You asshole!" male Felicia's voice screamed, making everyone whirl around.

Ranma abruptly let go of Xian Pu, uttering, "I can't believe I forgot about he... him!" and downright teleported to in front of her girlfriend-turned-boyfriend.

The laws of physics took over in Xian Pu's case resulting in her falling on her butt none too gently with an indignant "Oof!"

Ranma ignored everything in favour of hugging Felicia closely to herself, muttering apologies for forgetting about him. The redhead stopped caring about her love's very different body – and different it was seeing as Felicia had turned into a 1.88 m tall man with a handsome face and striking physique who could easily be called a hunk – as soon as they embraced, instinctively knowing that this was still the person she adored, the one who had saved her, the one she loved with all her heart.

The woman-turned-man himself was very much distracted by the alien but very pleasurable feel of a female body pressed to his now male body but automatically put his hands to the small of her back, holding her tight. The only thing keeping him from being totally overwhelmed were the meditation techniques he had been taught, but it was a close thing.

Stroking Ranma's hair and still marvelling at the sound of his changed voice he said, "That wasn't aimed at you, dear! It seems SD thought it'd be funny if I were to experience how the other side lives. Said it'd be harmless and educational! Can you believe that?"

– _**Well done, daughter, –**_ Sym mused to herself within the sanctuary of her own thoughts, _**– This has... potential. –**_

Ranma almost smiled. "Easily," she muttered and closed her eyes, revelling in the feelings being embraced by the love of her life brought about, "I'm so glad you're alright, but there's still the matter of what Xian Pu tried to do," she mused and sighed as if unwilling to leave the hug.

"Dear, I say hear her out. I think she really loves you, and that she saw us together like this caused her to snap. Need I remind you, humans do strange things out of love," Felicia said gently.

"Yes, oh voice of reason," Ranma acquiesced and dropped a lingering kiss on her girlfriend-turned-boyfriend's mouth, "What would I do without you?"

"Probably something stupid," Felicia teased with a grin and removed his hands, "Now shoo!"

Shaking her head Ranma turned around, her amusement fading until a neutral mask was in place. Three measured steps took her to where Xian Pu was still sitting on the pavement, her hollow gaze staring into nothingness. "Why did you do it, Shampoo?"

Ranma's angry voice snapped Xian Pu out of her funk and her eyes focussed. Tears glistening in her brown orbs she finally looked up. "Ranma understand Mandarin, yes?"

The redhead nodded her head, her expression stern and eyes narrowed, prompting Xian Pu to take a breath. _° I found the magic water in Mount Phoenix. I didn't know what it was at the time, but it was highly magical and in such an ornate cask too! I just had to pocket it! °_

– _**Translation: the girl saw something shiny that was coincidentally magical and had to take it. Your species never ceases to amuse me, –**_ Sym spoke up, giving the equivalent of a mental snort of amusement.

"Go on," Ranma prompted, her face an unreadable mask.

Xian Pu shrugged. °_I can only speculate that they kept it as a trump card should they ever have needed good relations with the Musk as they could've cured Herb._

_° I had no idea what I had stumbled upon, but as said, it was highly magical. Dangerous. Thus I tested it on the animals we processed at the Cat Cafe. Initially I used male specimen, and the lack of an effect was discouraging! Only after I had brought myself to use it on female specimen did I find out its purpose._

_° I wanted to offer it to you in exchange for becoming my husband, but then the wedding fiasco happened, and afterwards... Well... °_

Ranma nodded darkly. "Yeah... Carry on."

_° Your... mate was right, and I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I was way out of line. But seeing her get what I wanted, what I desired, drove me insane with rage and hate. I know I should have controlled my emotions like a good warrior, but I have loved you for so long! Ever since I realised what an incredible mistake I had made by treating you like a trophy have I wanted to make it up to you! The cure was just part of that. _

_° But then did you say those things, and you meant them! And you made googly eyes at your mate, your loving looks so sickeningly cute I almost died of diabetic shock! You even said out loud that you loved her! You never did that, with anyone! °_ Xian Pu hissed, her left fist impacting the street, cratering it.

A sigh escaped Ranma. "Almost never. But that's in the past. I'm a new woman, and a new man. I understand why you did what you did, but that was strike two. One more and you're out? Got me?"

Seeing the seriousness in Ranma's eyes Xian Pu weighed her options and sighed. _° I have lost. And to someone who wasn't even part of the chase. Isn't it ironic? °_

"Not really. Given everything it's hardly surprising that I could only fall in love with someone who wasn't part of my crazy life, ne? And she likes me for who I am, not for what I can do for her. To her I'm no trophy, no prize. I'm just me. Ranma. Sometimes man, sometimes woman. Always hers," the redhead said softly, almost reverently.

A few metres away Felicia smiled softly. "Forever, dear."

_° It is a bitter pill to swallow, but I won't stand in the way of true love. Not any longer. I apologise for my actions and give you my word that they will not be repeated ever, and I sincerely hope we can be friends, °_ Xian Pu said seriously, and while her head was held high her tone was downright pleading and sincere.

Ranma was faced with an inner conflict. On one hand she wasn't certain if Xian Pu's one-eighty was genuine, on the other she could really use Xian Pu and Kho Lon as allies.

– _**Ranma, Xian Pu has given her word, meaning she is bound by honour. Should she go back on her word she would lose everything. And the probability of that happening is negligible. All her bodily functions showed she was sincere, my recommendation is you accept, – **_Sym suggested and added, _**– If you expect her to grovel on her knees you will wait for a long time. The way she was raised, her pride and her being the great-granddaughter of the Joketzusoku matriarch will not allow it. This is as much of an apology as you will ever get. –**_

The redhead weighed Sym's words and refocused her gaze on the stone-faced Xian Pu who clearly awaited the passing of judgement, watched her for a few seconds and finally held out her right hand. A real smile broke through Xian Pu's stoic facade and she grasped the outstretched hand. Ranma easily pulled Xian Pu into a standing position and looked at the Amazon, her expression serious and solemn. "I accept your apology, Shampoo. I would also like for us to be friends, real friends."

As if on an unspoken signal both young women hugged. _° I would like that very much. Maybe you can become my blade-sister once your name's fully cleared! That would be great! °_

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Shamps," the redhead replied with a soft smile, "We'll see each other again, of that I have no doubt. Now I have a meeting with the authorities scheduled. Joy."

Kho Lon shot her great-granddaughter a brief, proud look before inclining her head. "Farewell, Ranma. Until we meet again," she said and turned her head sharply, "Warriors, the purpose of our visit has been served! Let us be gone with the wind!"

And just like that, with a last wave on Xian Pu's part and a respectful nod from Kho Lon the Amazons were gone.

-.-

_Ten minutes earlier, Happosai's room, Tendo Dojo, Japan_

"Genma, there's been a breaking news report on CNN a while ago. Ranma's shown his face, and we can be proud! He's defeated a clone of his and told his story to the world! Everyone knows he's innocent! That was a few hours ago and gave me enough time for preparations," the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes, well aware that Nabiki's oh so sophisticated and 'undetectable' listening devices would pick up every word, said in a self-satisfied tone.

"That's great news, master! What are your plans?" Genma asked eagerly, making himself sound servant-like.

Happosai's forehead furrowed. "We need to act fast. I'm an avid watcher of CNN, which is why I know that Ranma's clone has resurfaced as well. He has challenged him, and Kodachi Kuno is with the clone! It won't come as a surprise that I want to investigate!"

"Sorry for asking the obvious, master, but how do you want to bridge the distance so as to be able to actually act fast? Even the earliest and quickest flight would take hours!" Genma pointed out.

"Good question! Thing is, you're right. No airplane could accomplish what we need! But magic can!" Happosai said and took a deep breath, "A huge sacrifice it is, but one I'm willing to make!"

"Sacrifice, master?" Genma asked in a tone that clearly conveyed the message 'You aren't up to something stupid now, are you?'

"Yes. This," Happosai produced a rolled-up scroll, "is one of two blank teleportation scrolls I have left. Blank, as in you can choose your destination freely! The magic imbued within is so powerful that it would allow for one-time mass teleportation, only that it won't have to take more than the two of us."

"Is it... safe, master?" Genma asked wearily.

"I should send you on an extended training trip for doubting me, but alas, it seems I've got soft in my old age," Happosai sighed, "It is safe, Genma, as safe as can be. Golly, even a pregnant woman would hardly find a safer way of travel!"

"Brilliant, master! How does it work?"

"Well, once we have inscribed the destination all we have to say is 'Beam us up!'," Happosai explained and shrugged his shoulders, "Right you are, the scroll's creator had a funny sense of humour!"

"Can say that again, master! Anything else of importance?"

"Yes. I will limit the range of the teleportation spell to my room. So ensure that _they _stay in the ground floor, is that clear?" Happosai demanded with narrowed eyes, "Who knows, knowing these fools' luck they would probably barge in at just the wrong moment, inadvertently hitch a ride and use that chance to bring Ranma back into the fold! We can't allow that to happen, understood?"

"Y-Yes, master!" Genma replied in a cowed tone.

Happosai nodded satisfied. "Good. I will make the preparations, you pick up anything you need. Return in five minutes, or I'll leave without you!"

"G- Got it, master! By your leave?"

"I already dismissed you, didn't I? Begone!"

Genma scrambled from the room, hard pressed to hide his grin. Now that act they had put on had been Oscar-worthy.

-.-

A few rooms away one Nabiki Tendo could not suppress the smirk threatening to split her face. Slowly, just like she had all the time in the world the young woman stretched while waiting for Genma to walk past her room, and when she heard the creaking of the floorboards Nabiki walked to her door and listened carefully.

The sound of Genma's footfalls indicated that he was walking downstairs, likely to fill his belly in those five minutes he had prior to departure, and opening her door just when the rotund man had reached the ground level she stealthily opened her own door and followed his example. Carefully blanking her face Nabiki walked down the stairs, and almost grinned when she saw Genma sit across from her father at the Shogi board munching on some rice. Old habits died hard, much to her luck.

Her sisters were eating breakfast, and Nodoka was also following her usual habits, for the woman was reclining in the comfortable wing chair Soun had bought for 'guests', a pot of tea and assorted tea accessories as well as the craving of the week – that being tuna sandwich – in front of her serving as her breakfast. The grin almost threatened to make a reappearance when she sat down across from Nodoka.

"Aunty, I just saw a very interesting news report on CNN. You'll never guess just what I saw!" Nabiki exclaimed in a very realistic fake-excited tone.

"You know that I'm not the guessing type, Nabiki-chan. So, what was so interesting that it got you so excited?" Nodoka queried calmly while sipping her tea.

"I don't know how to make this less of a shock, Aunty, but Ranma's alive!" she exclaimed and hurried to continue upon seeing the doubtful expression, ignoring the exclamations from all around the room, "He somehow survived the prison break and carried on until he had proven his innocence. Which he managed just today! He told his life story, showed his abilities, everything! And that means..."

"My manly son is alive! He can fulfil his obligations to the family! Oh happy day!" Nodoka exclaimed in visible delight.

Nabiki plastered a false smile on her face, inwardly asking herself just how the Saotome matriarch managed to delude herself into believing that Ranma would ever forgive her. But seeing as she still had a lot of dirt on Ranma there was money to be made, so she didn't care.

"Master Happosai will beg to differ, No-chan," Genma said in a cool voice, not even looking up from the Shogi board.

"Nonsense, husband! We-"

"Genma has a point, Nodoka," Soun spoke up with a sigh, "The Master loathed the way we treated Ranma after his... fall. He will hardly allow for the schools to be joined through him and one of my daughters!"

"But-"

"I hadn't told you yet due to your condition, wife, but Master Happosai has made it very clear that there will be no union of the schools. Not now, probably never," Genma cut Nodoka off.

"What!" came the simultaneous shout from not just Nodoka and Soun.

"That's what he said. No union of the Saotome and Tendo schools," Genma replied, and amended, "At least not until the 'polluted genes' had been washed out, as he phrased it."

"That old troll! How dare he call my genes 'polluted'!" bristled Akane, her battle aura swirling around her.

Genma barely suppressed the urge to say, "If the shoe fits," but limited himself to a grunt.

"I must admit I don't like being insulted in this way either," Nabiki ground out in a fake-annoyed tone.

"Oh my, saying something like this is unseemly," Kasumi agreed with a nod of her head.

Nodoka's face was as black as thunder. "Never mind that he dares to bar my manly son and Soun's daughters from doing the manly thing and uniting the schools, no, he presumes to declare even our eventual offspring unfit for as long as he sees fit! The outrage! Why, I will have words with him! Right now!"

Seized by their common fury and conveniently forgetting Happosai's nature Nodoka, Akane and Soun – with them being the most emotional about it – spear-headed the group while Nabiki and Kasumi followed as less involved support.

Genma followed almost as an afterthought, and the Saotome patriarch was once more hard pressed to suppress a grin. That had worked out magnificently.

-.-

Happosai had worked through the necessary preparations meticulously as soon as Genma had left, all that was left to be done now was to utter the activation phrase. A feral grin appeared on his face when he felt three 'hot' ki's approaching accompanied by two 'mild' ki's and one cold ki, and said grin quickly gave way to a fake look of concentration.

The door burst open three seconds later admitting two angry women and one angry man followed by a mildly irritated Nabiki and a normal-as-ever Kasumi. Genma followed a second thereafter, his eyes twinkling briefly.

"What the heck do you fools want!" Happosai demanded with the teleportation scroll held in his right hand, his blazing battle aura cowing everyone into submission and reminding them why it was unwise to confront him without some serious firepower as backup, "The heck with it! I can't stop the magic, so you idiots are in for a ride! Beam us up!"

And just like that, with naught but a popping sound, the usual inhabitants of the Tendo Dojo were gone.

-.-

Ranma and Felicia were standing in the middle of a deserted 49th Street in a tight embrace, their surroundings forgotten. Ranma's head rested underneath Felicia's chin on his well-defined pectorals, her arms slung around the small of his back, while the woman-turned-man had one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist, his strong hand pressed on her bum.

Amnar had relocated to an adjacent building with a flat roof so as to give them a bit of privacy and to 'not have to bleach her mind from the syrupy sweetness'. Neither gender-inversed individual seemed to want the moment to end, and Ranma sighed in content. "This is nice, even if our roles are reversed."

"Yeah. This is seriously weird, but it feels... good," Felicia mused thoughtfully.

"Heh, most men like the feel of a hot woman's body pressed up to them," Ranma grinned and fluttered her lashes, "And I have it on good authority that I'm more than hot!"

Felicia gulped audibly as Ranma pressed harder into him, her eyes alight with mischief. "You aren't just hot, you're dangerous!" he whispered and exhaled carefully.

Ranma was about to tease her better half – or was it lesser half now? – about a certain tightening of his costume in a certain area when her senses picked up on something. Her expression changing to one of anger she absently noted that Felicia's head whipped around barely a second later and she inwardly thought, **'S/He's getting good!'** while her eyes narrowed. "That's just like _them_, they always ruin everything!

"Dear, please make yourself invisible and watch from one of the rooftops! I want to get you involved when _they_ are in the right frame of mind, and I'm so gonna use the fact that you're male right now to my advantage!"

Felicia quietly asked himself what Ranma meant but shrugged inwardly. "You do that," he replied and drew Ranma close, dropping a passionate kiss on her lips, "And dear, why don't you pull your hair out of that ponytail? I'm sure it's gonna annoy your dear old mom to no end!" he said and dropped another kiss on her lips before she could retort, "That one was to go so I have a reminder of what it feels like, you take care, dear!"

Ranma found it a bit difficult to maintain her balance once Felicia had let go of her to do as she had asked of him, the thought, **'Wow! That was almost like when we had our first kiss! So... electrifying! Want more! Damn!**'

– _**Your body sure liked that as well, – **_Sym commented nonchalantly as Ranma watched Felicia vanish from sight.

**'Yeah, so what? I'm only human, and Felicia's Felicia, regardless of the outer package,'** Ranma retorted levelly and shook her head a few times to clear it even as she followed Felicia's suggestion about letting her hair down, her red mane cascading down her shoulders, admitting, **'Look, we ain't got time to dwell on the implications! I got Tendos and a Saotome to chew out!'**

– _**Indeed. I shall tease you about your traitorous body later, –**_ Sym decided smugly, _**– Now go get some payback! –**_

Ranma smirked darkly and cracked her knuckles. A grin spread on her face when she felt Amnar land on the street beside her. "You want in on the show too, sis?"

The other redhead shrugged. "Once they've grasped that I'm not the original I'll watch from the sidelines and lean back. Maybe take a shot here and there, not more. That one's yours, but thanks for wanting to include me, sis."

"Gladly," Ranma returned with an inclination of her head, "Come on, let's put some distance between us and Kodachi's corpse, or who knows what they'll make of it. I don't want that as a conversation starter," she grumbled and quickly moved the corpse somewhat out of sight.

"You got that right. They'd probably accuse one of us of homicide," Amnar mused matter-of-factly, "Which would be almost accurate."

"This time around, yes. But they'd do it for all the wrong reasons. Again!" Ranma retorted with an angry look and popped her joints, "Here they come now."

"Are you ready?" Amnar asked, concern in her voice.

"To rip into them without killing them? To use words instead of tearing them apart with my bare hands?" Ranma asked with a grimace, her eyes filled with anger and rage, "Hardly. But I have to."

Amnar nodded softly and turned her head at the same moment as her sister, her face closing down as she, alongside Ranma made use of the Soul of Ice. "Here goes," she muttered and gave her sister an encouraging smile before staring at the approaching group.

Ranma returned the smile briefly and nodded back, muttering, "Showtime!"

-.-

Led by Happosai the elder Saotomes and Soun Tendo and his daughters drew nearer, each of them eyeing the destroyed street with varying degrees of interest.

Ranma could clearly hear Kasumi's mutter of, "Oh my, what happened here?", and when she heard the Tendos talk amongst themselves while carefully navigating the devastated street she had to delve so deeply into the Soul of Ice to keep her temper under control that the air around her got so freezing that ice crystals formed that melted in contact with her skin. The ghosts of the past had returned to haunt her once more, but this time around things would go very differently. This time it would be her that would banish them, not the other way around.

It were the expressions on the faces of Soun Tendo and his daughters as well as Nodoka Saotome once the laid eyes on her – or rather her clone whom they believed to be the original – that got her gall most of all, the look that nothing was wrong and never had been.

Ranma suddenly felt an odd calm seep into her, and she instinctively loosened up on the usage of the Soul of Ice. **'Sym?'**

– _**I felt it prudent to cut down on your hormone production to allow you to get a grip on your temper. You should not lose your countenance so early on, it is not advisable, –**_ her symbiote explained.

Ranma sent grateful thoughts at Sym and schooled her features into neutrality as Happosai, the Tendos and Saotomes crossed the last few metres. She almost felt amusement that everyone seemed to focus on her clone after chancing her a look and finding that she was 'just the clone' and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, keeping her expression impassive.

A distinctly pregnant looking Nodoka came to a stop in front of Amnar, a friendly if stern look on her face. "Ranma, we have just found out that you're innocent and alive! Can you imagine my, our joy?"

Amnar gave a disinterested look while only Sym clamping down on her hormones prevented Ranma from losing her cool. "And that's supposed to matter to me why?" the clone asked casually, chancing a bored look at her fingernails.

The smile slipped slightly from Nodoka's face, her eyes narrowing in the beginnings of a frown. "Why, we're here to bring you home, of course! It was all a just a big mistake! You go make your statement and we can go home where you can fulfil your manly obligations!"

Ranma couldn't believe the gall of her birth mother but had to give it to her sister, the girl was playing it cool. Not even a muscle had twitched. "And what makes you think I want to?" Amnar asked coolly, her hands crossed underneath her chest.

"We're doing you a favour, baka! It's just like you to not appreciate it," Akane spoke up with an edge to her tone.

"And why should I?" countered Amnar challengingly, her eyes flashing.

"Because it's the manly thing to do!" Nodoka exclaimed and fingered the ever-present bundle on her back, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Amnar narrowed her eyes and matched the look. "Your manliness shtick can go fuck itself! It's the sole reason my life went to hell in a hand basket!"

"Hah! It's just like you to blame others for your shortcomings!" Akane snarked before a red-faced Nodoka could retort, "Had you had your guard up nothing of this would have happened!"

– _**Their attempts at getting you 'back into the fold' are more than pitiful. But the fact that they are staying true to themselves will work to our advantage. I doubt it would take more than you insinuating that you have been sexually active in your female form to cause interesting reactions in your dear ex-fiancée and mother, –**_ Sym suggested with a hint of dark glee.

**'You're right on both accounts, Sym. Playing with their minds it is. Once they've realised that I'm the original, that is,'** Ranma thought back.

"Is that so?" Amnar retorted in a dangerously soft tone in reply to what Akane had said.

"Son, you have nowhere else to go," Soun interrupted in an attempt to sound reasonable, "You're an illegal alien!"

"First off, I ain't your son, nor am I your daughter, second, you're dead wrong if you think I'd leave my sister," Amnar inclined her head at Ranma, "to fend for herself! And third, I know that little Miss Martial Artist over there is very fond of bricks, but she should keep in mind that you don't go around throwing 'em when you live in a glass house! Like she, Nerima's kidnap victim number one, is one to talk about keeping your guard up, feh!"

"Thanks, sis," Ranma spoke up with a genuine smile just as a red-faced Akane harrumphed, and although Amnar and she were acting she felt touched by her clone's heartfelt words.

"Welcome, sis," Amnar retorted with a smile and narrowed her eyes at Nodoka.

Soun, but especially Nodoka surveyed Ranma as if seeing her for the first time. "Ah yes. Your... _Clone_," the Saotome matriarch mused, her brows furrowed in distaste, "Why, just the way it wears its hair... And that... costume... Unmanly! It is obviously a flawed mirror image of the original! It is of no relation to us and of no relevance. Such a sin against nature shouldn't even exist!"

**'She's crazy, plain and simple! That manliness obsession must have rot her brain,'** Ranma thought as she regarded the glaring Nodoka cooly, **'But Felicia was right, wearing my hair like this really got her gall! This is almost too easy!'**

– _**Indeed. I can only assume that the pregnancy makes your... mother even more irrational than is otherwise known to us. But do not play statue, make use of this advantage and provoke her! –**_ Sym demanded.

Ranma gave mental confirmation, then she tucked a few strands of her long hair behind her right ear and tilted her head to the left, well aware of how feminine it made her look. "Is that so?" she asked in a deceptively calm lilting tone in reply to what Nodoka had said.

"You were made in a lab as a copy of my son! Of course you are not my child, and I will never acknowledge you! I only have one manly son with an unfortunate unmanly affliction, and you're not him. You're not even a pale shadow!" Nodoka retorted haughtily in a tone as if speaking to a slow child, "It's glaringly obvious that you're a failed copy at that. Why, look at you! Even the blind can see how unmanly you are! You're obviously a failure, and if you were Ranma I would find you wanting!" she added acidly.

"Nodoka-"

"The blind would also be able to see that you've lost. And it's not just your marbles I'm talking about," Ranma retorted, her tone dry and cutting, "And that you'd go back on your word after proclaiming me 'manly' shows what a hokey liar you are."

"How dare you!" Nodoka hissed in outrage, her cheeks tinted red.

"Nodoka!" Soun exclaimed but was again ignored.

The Tendo patriarch had now tried to interrupt Nodoka several times without success and palmed his face as the auburn-haired woman began to verbally tear into an unimpressed looking Ranma, fact that made Genma and Happosai enjoy themselves that much more. The Tendo patriarch, having been forced to undergo some severe and humbling – read: torturous – training in regards of sensing, building and cleansing his ki under Happosai these last months, all under the pretence of cleansing his body, mind and soul, had apparently connected the dots after taking a good, long look at the supposed clone.

**'Way too late, my dear pupil,'** Happosai thought vindictively and watched Soun's attempts at getting Nodoka's attention with unholy delight.

Genma whereas was having trouble keeping his face impassive, his own thoughts mirroring those of his master as he watched the disaster unfold. Only his furrowed brows betrayed his discontent at seeing his wife verbally abusing his son-turned-daughter. **'What? 'Sin against Kami-sama'? 'Whorish looking hero reject'? I commend you on your acting skills, Ranma, you took that without flinching! But what the hell does Nodoka think? Does she think at all? The way she's acting is a recipe for disaster! It's glaringly obvious that Ranma and the clone like each other, and Nodoka must've noticed! They called each other sisters, for Kami-sama's sake! So why the insults and the total disregard? All just because Ranma, the supposed clone, looks and acts unmanly?**

**'Oh well, too good I've stopped caring about Nodoka or I would be worried. Che, she's making her bed, let her lie in it!'**

Amnar on her part boggled and was momentary speechless, but Ranma just cocked a scarlet brow when her mother had finished her rant. "An it, am I now? A failure? A sin against nature? A whorish looking hero reject and whatnot? Of no relation and relevance? Just like at the trial, eh, 'mother'? To be discarded and thrown away like trash once no longer useful, ne? And here I thought you were such a nice lady when first I met you. How wrong I was!"

"Congrats, 'mom', you just hit jackpot," Amnar commented with a disbelieving shake of her head, her eyes showing her anger plainly as she stared at the confused Nodoka, "For _I_ am 'just the flawed mirror image'. I am the clone, I am that which shouldn't exist, the 'sin against Kami-sama' and whatnot, for Ranma cannot do this!"

Fire burned in her eyes and a fiery aura surrounded Amnar that caused everyone bar Ranma to step back, the smaller redhead's glare drilling into a now uncertain Nodoka. "That's an unintended 'gift' my creator Miles Warren gave me. A little leftover from the happenings at Jusendo.

"My sis here just doesn't look like my twin 'cause she hit a growth spurt, the big meanie! But all joking aside, you just ruined the most miniscule of chances you might have had at reconciliation, Nodoka Saotome! And I begin to see why Ranma... doesn't like you very much," she growled.

And a coldly glaring Ranma interjected, "Now that's the understatement of the year! I hate her!"

Amnar inclined her head, accepting the correction and glared at Nodoka, the force of her ki keeping the woman from saying anything. "I had no choice in becoming, Nodoka Saotome, I didn't ask to be a clone! It's just my good fortune to having had such a great sister as my template! I just hope your genes didn't pollute my genetic matrix, for your beliefs are stark raving mad!

"And if you still don't believe me, I don't know what happened at the trial as 'my' memories don't extend that far. She, Ranma, is the one you condemned to hell!"

Nodoka shook her head as if to clear it as the pressure finally eased away, her facial expression going from shock to denial to anger. "You're speaking nonsense! And stop behaving so unmanly and change back to your proper form!" she demanded of Amnar.

"I'm just the clone, of no relation and relevance, remember? I'm nothing to you, you're nothing to me! Your demands mean nothing to me, you madwoman, so stuff 'em where the sun doesn't shine!" Amnar sneered back.

"Why, I never-"

"I wouldn't have thought I could hate you any more, 'mother', but you've just proven me wrong," Ranma cut in in an almost whisper, rage building in her voice, her ki-laced stare prompting Nodoka to turn around to face her, "You condemned me to hell on earth instead of standing by me, and now that I've proven my innocence by myself, without help from any of you stupid, backstabbing lot, do you want me back! You're fucking crazy!" she hissed, the red and very powerful aura surrounding her stunning the recipients of her rage into silence, "I am the one you threw away like trash! I am the original, for I've never had the abilities just displayed by my sis, yes, sister! Not 'it'! That you refuse to believe us just goes to show how off your rocker you are! Pregnancy addle your brain even more?" she hissed venomously.

Nodoka reared back as if struck, then she regained her composure and purpled. "You sin against Kami-sama dare-"

"NODOKA!" Soun finally bellowed angrily, making the pregnant woman whirl to face him with a snarled, "What?"

"You made a huge mistake, Nodoka!" Soun ground out and sighed, "I have compared the life energies of the Ranma's, and this one," he pointed a shaky right hand at Ranma whose expression was glacial, "is the original! No doubt about that!"

"That she is!" Amnar affirmed, her expression black as thunder, "And even if she weren't, do you think for a second I'd have gone back with you after how you treated the 'clone'? Are you that delusional?"

"That's a foregone conclusion, sis. Just the fact that she's pregnant stops me from literally knocking some sense into her," Ranma ground out, her dark blue eyes easily conveying her anger, "Not that it'd help any. She can kiss all her plans and fantasies good bye after how she treated you and me! We're done!"

Nodoka sputtered. "But... But... No! It... It can't be!"

"But it is! Isn't it too sad, _Nodoka_? All your plans gone up in smoke, and just because you showed a closemindedness and bigotism that's fucking sickening! Yes, Amnar's my clone, but that doesn't make her worth less or less of a human being! That you couldn't stop yourself from trying to impose your fantasies on me yet again was the icing on the cake! Yes, yes, it's so sad when dream and reality aren't compatible," Ranma mused with a mock-sigh, "And it wouldn't even have been that hard! All it would've needed was you being genuinely sorry and I would at least have listened to you! But you never were, and you aren't till this day! For that would've required you admitting you were wrong, and we can't have that now, can we, Mrs Nodoka Perfect Saotome?"

"I... But..."

"Dear ole mom's in de Nile, wouldn't you say?" Amnar mused with a sneer as she watched Nodoka's meltdown.

"Horrible pun, sis. But right you are, that bloody lunatic sure is in denial," Ranma growled and shook her head in disgust at her mother muttering gibberish.

The clapping of hands could be heard, causing everyone to turn around to the source. "Bravo, Bravissimo! What a staggering performance, Nodoka!" Happosai exclaimed mockingly and then shook his head in visible disgust, "Not only did you systematically insult Ranma and didn't believe a word she said, no, you didn't realise the importance of the obvious bond between Ranma and her clone! Didn't you listen? She called Amnar 'sister'!"

Nodoka had nothing intelligible to say to that and continued to sputter, prompting Happosai to snort in disgust. "How anyone can be so blinded to anything but their own fantasies is beyond me, and it sickens me to no end!" he sneered and let his oppressive aura that had hindered the Tendos to throw in their own two cents fade to nothingness.

"Almost as much as how they treated Ranma, Master?" Genma piped up, putting up a very convincing grovelling act.

Happosai stroked his beard as if in thought. "Absolutely! Why, that was almost as bad as what they did at the trial, but the act of betrayal that happened there, especially on Akane's and Nodoka's part, was worse! That's why it's almost! And that's also why Ranma's so angry! Couple that with her being furious about these useless ingrates waltzing into her life and pretending nothing happened, with them having the utter gall to demand Ranma go back to how things were and I wonder why they are all still in one piece!"

"Because they're not worth dirtying my hands over. They're not worth going to jail for, they aren't worth anything," Ranma whispered, her soft voice somehow reaching them all, and letting her piercing glare wander over the Tendos and finally coming to rest on her mother she mentally added, **'All they're worth is enacting my revenge upon!'**

Nodoka had paled dramatically as the realisation that she had made a real mess of things hit her fully, and it was obvious that she was working hard on coming to terms with the situation. It was equally obvious that her efforts were not met with success as no more than muttered gibberish escaped her mouth.

"Got it now, Nodoka? You fucked up! Royally and without a chance at remediation!" Happosai said gleefully, his dark eyes gleaming sinisterly.

Amnar nodded her head, her eyes hard as she let her gaze travel over the Tendos and Nodoka. "In simple words so that you understand, there's no chance at going back to how things were! Three strikes, you people are out! And good riddance!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed with the fingers of her right hand going to her mouth, speaking up for the first time after having stayed silent in favour of watching the exchange between the two Ranma's and Nodoka just like her sisters.

"Now that's complicating things verily," Nabiki Tendo mused silently to herself.

"How can that be Ranma? She... He's so tall!" Akane exclaimed, her voice holding a distinct edge, "And so..."

"Beautiful," Kasumi breathed.

Ranma cocked her head and regarded Akane coolly, ignoring Kasumi's comment. "Jealous much?"

Akane sneered and was about to retort only to be cut off by Genma. "No one cares about your blabbering, girl," he said in a bored tone that made the youngest Tendo sibling steam, and that Genma casually turned to Happosai even more so. "Your analysis was faultless, master!" he praised.

Happosai lit his pipe and took a long drag, exhaling a ring of smoke that kept cohesion for a few seconds before dispersing. "Of course it was, Genma! I'm the Grand_master_, ain't I?"

"You perverted old goat! What would you know?" Akane snarled angrily at Happosai, "Don't you think I've been beating myself up every day ever since I found out Ranma was innocent? That I couldn't even apologise to him for I thought he was dead?"

"Sorry don't cut it," Ranma coolly spoke up, her eyes hard, "The old Ranma who'd have forgiven you is dead! She died on Ryker's Island, killed by the actions of her so called family and friends!"

"But Ranma-"

"No buts!" Ranma interrupted sharply, her icy-cold eyes drilling into Akane, "If it's forgiveness you seek try the Yellow Pages. I'm all out of forgiveness! You are nothing to me, you mean nothing to me, Tendo, but lots and lots of pain! Got it?"

Akane had almost physically stepped back from the onslaught, her expression distraught. "I-"

"What will it take for you to understand, Tendo? I. Will. Never. Forgive. You! That clear enough?" Ranma hissed, enunciating each word carefully.

"Stop acting so unmanly!" Nodoka demanded although it sounded almost like an automatic reaction.

Ranma slowly turned her head, her blue eyes turning yellow seeing as she involuntarily channelled the power of the Neko-ken in her barely suppressed fury. "Back to spouting your usual tripe already? I can't bloody believe it!" she hissed angrily, her fists balled tightly, "You treated me like shit when you thought I was the clone, and now that you know I'm not you dare and try to boss me around? Your belief that nothing matters aside from your own beliefs and wants is apparently so deep-seated that only beating it out of you until you learn would help, I think!

"Thank Kami-sama you're pregnant so I'll limit myself to words: you ain't got the fucking right to lord over me, _Nodoka_! No one does! Not you, not the fucking Tendos! _You_ aren't part of my life and have forfeited any chance to ever be, in this life and the next! _You_ are nothing more than the person who happened to give birth to me! _I_ am in charge of my life, _I_ decide how I want to live it, whom to love, whom to marry! Is. That. Understood?"

Nodoka, having realised her repeated folly, could only gulp, and Happosai sniggered. "It's high time Ranma ripped her a new one! But they're getting off comparably mild for my tastes, especially Akane! Hardly any payback for all the undeserved beatings!"

Happosai saying this coupled with Ranma's harsh rejection seemed to enrage Akane to the point of irrationality, and she swung her still forming mallet at Happosai. The ancient Grandmaster calmly cocked a brow and brandished his pipe lightning quick, bashing the bluenette down the street.

Soun's wail of "My baby daughter!" was silenced by a blast of ki on Happosai's part, his no-nonsense face stopping any further complaint in its tracks. Seeing as Akane got to her feet groaning and grunting and that she didn't seem much worse for the wear the matter was dropped.

"Well handled, Grandmaster," Ranma nodded and inclined her head in respect, "Now that we've established that I'm the original," her glare dared anyone to challenge her and even Nodoka seemed to have got a clue, "I do wonder though, Nabiki and Kasumi Tendo have been very quiet. Why do you suppose that is?"

Happosai put on a mock-thoughtful look. "I would never take a guess about Kasumi seeing as I doubt even she knows why she does what she does," he barbed and put a hand to his chin, ignoring Kasumi's frown, "Nabiki on the other hand, hmm... I could say because she has learned her lesson, but I know for a fact that this is false. You see, I removed her... ailments a while ago to make her believe I thought she'd learned her lesson when I knew for a fact she hadn't. And she hadn't," the Grandmaster concluded with a mean grin.

"Doesn't surprise me. She'd sell her soul to make a Yen and someone miserable. The fates of others do not matter to her, that I learned the hard way," Ranma ground out softly, "Wouldn't surprise me if she'd meet her end at the hands of someone she drove too far some day."

"I wouldn't talk so big if I were you, Saotome," Nabiki sneered, malicious delight playing on her face, "I still got tons on you!"

Akane, having limped back to the group, butted in before Ranma could retort. "Who offed Kodachi? Bet it was you, eh, Ranma? Revenge against everyone and everything that wronged you, the oh so mighty Ranma, isn't it so?"

"So you found the body, eh?" Ranma retorted calmly while Genma chanted, "Ding dong, the bitch is dead!", ignoring Nodoka's disapproving look.

"Yes! Does the mud stick this time, Ranma?" Akane growled angrily.

"And she wonders why I won't forgive her," Ranma muttered with a shake of her head, "Idiot girl."

"What? Kodachi is here and she's dead?" Soun uttered in surprise.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed, her left hand going to her mouth.

"Very interesting," Nabiki mused to herself and eyed Ranma speculatively.

"Dead as a doornail, dad! Her body's hidden behind that car!" Akane said and pointed at a silver Sedan, her glare drilling into Ranma, "Bet it felt good killing her, didn't it?"

"Go suck on a rock, Tendo! Maybe the flavour will mysteriously cure you from your always jumping to conclusions ailment!" Ranma sneered back, causing Akane's simmering rage to mount up to a boil.

"Oh no, Akane's angry at Ranma because he won't forgive her!" Kasumi exclaimed, her left hand going to her mouth again.

"Like it needs a reason for her to get angry and act on said impulses," Ranma scoffed, causing Akane to glower even more.

"Ranma, apologise to my baby daughter this instant!" Soun yelled more out of habit than anything else.

The look of horrified realisation on Soun's face of what he had just said and the situation they were in only added fuel to the fire of Ranma's anger. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You. Blustering. Worm! The day I apologise to a Tendo will be a cold day in hell!" she snarled and blasted him with the full strength of her ki, making him whimper, "Cowering, pathetic jelly-fish, thank Kami-sama I have a tight rein on my temper or there would be hell to pay! And for the record, people, Kodachi killed herself, so to speak. But more to that later once the cops arrive!"

"Still so arrogant, Saotome," Nabiki tsked mildly as if amused, "That arrogance will be your downfall. The police know you're a prime suspect, and some carefully placed hints here and there... But for the right price..."

Ranma's suddenly calm demeanour gave way to a sneer. "Your threats would only work if I gave a damn, Tendo! Blackmail? Fuck it! Blab to the cops all you want, who knows, they might even listen to you, Miss illegal alien! Shots of me in lingerie to embarrass me into doing what you want? Been there, done that, got the lingerie, not embarrassed."

**'Now to really mess with their heads and make Akane go apeshit so she can dig her own grave,'** the redhead thought vindictively, her sneer deepening, "And I make said lingerie look good, in contrast to you and your sisters, Tendo, especially that tomboyish one over there with the nasty expression," she purred and sensually ran her hands down her curvaceous sides, exposing the hem of the black lace panties she was wearing, "Eh, Akane, I see you're still a carpenter's dream, flat as a board and never been nailed! Much in contrast to li'l ole me!

"And for the record, Tendo," Ranma turned her head to regard Nabiki, ignoring the fuming and red-faced Akane who looked like she would pop a vessel any second now, "_I am no Saotome_. This overhonoured bitch," she nodded at a gobsmacked and pale Nodoka who had apparently jumped to the same conclusions as Akane regarding Ranma's virginity, "made that abundantly clear!"

"Insulting me like that... Wearing that form-fitting 'costume'... Wearing girls' panties... Admitting to having done THAT... YOU PERVERT!" a hopping mad Akane finally screeched and with her rage boiling over she swung a haymaker at Ranma with her mallet before anyone could – seemingly – react.

Sym commenting, _**– Acceptable use of psychology to accomplish your goals, but we really have to work on your retorts. Why, they were hardly scathing at all! –**_ was the last thing Ranma heard before the mallet impacted her face.

**To be continued**...

Quick note(s): Wanted to cover a lot more ground here, but seeing as the chapter kept growing and growing I decided to cut this off here as it seemed like a good stopping point; otherwise we would have ended up with 25 to 30k words, and that would have been a wee bit much. More coming soon seeing as the next part's already between a quarter and halfway done.

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: BorgRabbit for rendering betaing services and my readers in general. There's probably tons of others I'm forgetting, so let this be the usual shout of 'Kudos!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s)**:

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	24. When a plan comes together

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

_

**Chapter 24: When a plan comes together**

An eerie silence blanketed the 49th Street in the wake of Akane Tendo malleting Ranma for perceived slights against the youngest Tendos' person. A brief look of horror, probably at having got carried away, flickered across Akane's face as she watched Ranma's flight, but the expression was quickly replaced by one of anger. "The baka deserved it!"

"Indeed! It serves Ranma right for being so unmanly and disrespectful!" Nodoka agreed with a regal nod and added, "I'm certain this little lesson will help him to remember how to behave properly!"

Akane, reassured by Nodoka's words that her actions had been appropriate, harrumphed. "If not I'm sure he'll learn!" she ground out and patted the head of her mallet.

Amnar shook her head in disbelief. "Seeing it like that makes it even more surreal! I can't believe I... hmm, Ranma, tolerated that kinda behaviour for years!"

Happosai shrugged his shoulders. "I never understood it either, dear. I think Ranma hoped Akane would change, but it is as it is with hope... Sometimes it's crushed. But seriously, what does it take to break that Nodoka of that manliness obsession of hers?"

"Ranma reading her the riot act didn't work, so... Armageddon?" Amnar suggested dryly, both scarlet brows cocked.

"That should do the trick!" Happosai agreed with a thoughtful nod, but frowned, "But then again, it'd lay waste to this beautiful world and all its loveliness! No, no, I say we let Ranma beat some more sense into that manliness obsessed head of Nodokas'!"

Amnar nodded her head in agreement, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Works for me! Anything to knock some semblance of sense into that empty cranium of hers!"

"How dare you, you sin-"

"This 'sin' orders you to shut the fuck up!" Amnar hissed angrily, her fury causing a corona of fire to appear around her that caused the asphalt to melt and bubble, "I have to wonder where Ranma and I got our tactical prowess from, 'cause it can't have been you gauging from the idiotic way you're acting! You want to bring Ranma back into the family and treat the one she regards as a sibling worse than trash? Are you that stupid or just that full of yourself?" she demanded, hands on her hips, "Way it seems to me you got nothing in that head of yours that doesn't revolve around your fucking twisted sense of honour, manliness and grandbabies! Otherwise you'd bloody well have woken up to reality, you lunatic!"

"Heh heh, great going, my dear!" Happosai exclaimed, his expression delighted, "But it's obvious from Nodoka's expression that our resident lunatic is far from agreeing! Oh well, something tells me this fine day shall bring many more surprises and insights for her!"

The sudden screeching of tyres broke the silence that followed this exclamation, and the shout of, "NYPD! You with the hammer, drop the weapon!" uttered by a male police officer jumping out of one of the many police cars pulling up with his weapon drawn – Ranma absently recognised the speaker as Sergeant Chavez during her flight – coincided with her hitting the outer wall of the Rockefeller Center.

Ranma barely felt the impact but relaxed her muscles completely to make it seem like a hard impact. It almost looked comical how her body slid bonelessly to the ground from the indentation she had made, the redhead coming to lie flat on her face, motionless.

"I think you overdid it this time, Akane," Nabiki commented wryly, arms crossed underneath her chest.

"Ranma-kun has bounced back from worse, little sister," Kasumi said mildly.

"How should I have known that the mighty Ranma would fold like a house of cards from one blow?" Akane asked in a voice that suggested she wasn't at all concerned with the police officers pointing their guns at her.

Ranma resisted the urge to sneer. Due to the fact that Akane had hit her left cheek with her full strength behind it a nasty bruise was forming, and toning down her healing factor she planned to capitalise on the injury inflicted upon her. Having cold, hard evidence on one's side was always of the good.

– _**Very good strategy to let yourself be hit! I have suppressed my automatic reaction to remedy the injury as well, –**_ Sym commended, having caught on to her host's plan.

Ranma gave a shark-like mental grin and propped herself up on her elbows before pushing herself unsteadily into a standing position. Grimacing in pain the redhead turned her head to look from Akane who seemed content to observe rather than act for the time being at the newcomers, and her left hand holding her right side right where the floating ribs were located Ranma walked toward the police officers at a snail's pace. "Sergeant, I want to press charges of assault and battery, maybe even attempted murder against one Akane Tendo!" she said softly after coming to a stop in front of Sergeant Chavez, her right index finger pointing at the bluenette.

"WHAT?" Akane, Soun and Nodoka virtually screamed, Kasumi exclaiming "Oh my!"

"To use your own words, you got no leg to stand on, Ranma," Nabiki spoke up in a self-satisfied tone, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smirk, "Your word against ours, and really, your eye witnesses are hardly credible now, are they?"

Ranma's face didn't so much as twitch, fact that made Nabiki somewhat apprehensive. "So I threw myself at the wall giving me what's gonna be a fucking black eye, some nice bruising and cracked ribs, eh? You're a riot, Tendo!"

"You have always been accident prone like that, Ranma," Nabiki retorted with a shrug.

Ranma grinned maliciously. "Isn't it too bad then that Dr Richards of the Fantastic Four developed a device that's called memory player? I for one will gladly provide the police with my memory of this attack, and I'm certain Master Happosai and my dad will love to do the same!"

"You can bet your cute ass I will, my dear!" Happosai exclaimed eagerly and smacked his right fist in the palm of his left hand.

Genma turned steely eyes on Nodoka who looked at him with an expression screaming 'Don't you dare!' and scoffed, then his gaze turned soft when he looked at Ranma. "Of course I will, dear."

Ranma smiled back, her smile transforming into a smirk when her gaze met the fuming and red-faced Nodoka's who had once more begun to mutter incoherently. "Think she was dropped on her head as a baby, Master?" she muttered and nodded her head at Nodoka.

"Would make sense and explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Happosai nodded sagely, and smirking he turned to regard Nabiki, "To use a legal term, dear Nabiki-chan, objection dismissed!"

Nabiki shook her head and sighed, her eyes closing briefly. "Saotome's bluffing skills are non-existent, so he's probably telling the truth. That's not good," she muttered quietly to herself and grimaced, "Why did the hothead have to go and make things so complicated?"

"It's high time Akane got a wake-up call, wouldn't you say, Nabiki-chan?" Happosai asked dryly with Genma and Amnar nodding their assent.

Nabiki said nothing and opted to watch the impasse between her younger sister and the police officers.

"Can't believe Akane got that bad," Amnar muttered with a shake of her head as she looked at Akane who still hadn't dropped the mallet, "But her ki speaks for itself."

"That is does, sis. Tomboy's got a nastier temper problem than ever before due to her use of anger-based ki!" Ranma agreed with her head turned to look at her 'sister' and swivelled it to glare at Akane, "But that's no reason to physically assault people with blunt, trauma-inducing instruments for perceived slights, especially so for a so called martial artist!"

Akane got even redder in the face and visibly fumed, her eyes shooting daggers at Ranma. "You... You..." she hissed and brandished her mallet as she advanced on the redhead who stared back unflinchingly, her left hand still pressed into her right side.

"Stop right there or we'll open fire!" Chavez commanded from where he had stepped to beside Ranma during the exchange, his gun aimed at Akane's right shoulder.

"But it's the pervert's fault for making me so angry! He deserved it!" Akane downright snarled, her eyes shooting daggers at Ranma who regarded her former fiancée with a cold expression.

"I won't repeat myself, Miss! Freeze, and drop the weapon!" Sergeant Chavez ordered harshly, his gun never wavering despite the fact that he hadn't taken his eyes off Akane once.

"Oh my, do what the nice officer says, little sister!" Kasumi exclaimed, a look of worry on her face.

"Do what they say, Akane. They're serious, and the odds are stacked against you," Nabiki said levelly.

This statement and the fact that every police officer on site, twenty in total, were still pointing their weapons at Akane with no-nonsense expressions on their faces stopped the bluenette cold and prompted her to look around. Teeth gnashed and a look of utter fury levelled at Ranma who didn't even bat a lash the youngest Tendo daughter complied and dropped the mallet which promptly vanished much to the surprise of the officers on site.

"Where did that weapon go?" Sergeant Chavez demanded in irritation.

"If you allow me, Akane Tendo used her ki to form the mallet she used to manhandle me with," Ranma explained, and a brief look of concentration and the usage of a small amount of ki later she was holding her own mallet in her hands, "The difference is, Tendo used anger-based ki whereas I used neutral ki. The latter is harder to do, but the former will lead to problems if used too often as it's addictive."

The mallet vanished into nothingness causing Chavez and his troop to blink. The Sergeant chuckled and shook his head. "Even having seen what you can do, you're full of surprises, ma'am."

"I aim to please," Ranma retorted with a grin.

"Letting yourself be called 'ma'am'? The curse must've gone to your head, you pervert!" Akane raged in boundless fury, her outburst causing all officers on site to tighten their grips around the handles of their firearms.

"Akane is right, stop this unmanly behaviour and change back!" Nodoka demanded forcefully.

Ranma turned her head and regarded Nodoka with such an icy, hateful look that the older woman flinched, and the younger redhead, satisfied that she had silenced her mother for the time being swivelled her head to look at Akane. "Your opinion doesn't matter to me nor does your approval or lack thereof, Tendo. I live my life the way I want it, if I feel like being male there's nothing you can do about it, if I feel like being female even le-"

"I'll get you for being such a blatant pervert, you baka! Mark my words, everyone will know what a pervert and freak you are!" Akane interrupted with a glare.

"You're just digging yourself deeper, Tendo," Ranma retorted calmly and idly brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face and tucked them behind her right ear, a feminine gesture that seemed to only raise Akane's ire even more, "To paraphrase a quote, we're not in Nerima any more, Tendo. Things like you playing Golf with my face as the ball are hardly gonna be overlooked here!"

"Feh! They'll all see what a pervert you are and declare me innocent, you... you cross-dresser!" Akane hissed balefully.

"That temper of yours is going to be your downfall, little sis," Nabiki muttered and briefly closed her eyes, whispering, "Nothing I can do for you here."

"Hardly. On both accounts. And that's more than enough out of you," Chavez remarked coldly in reply to Akane's exclamations and cuffed the protesting and fuming bluenette personally, going so far as to shackle her feet as well. Then he read Akane her rights, and that done he looked at Ranma, "That's a little something I borrowed from Dr Richards after your little display, Miss. Those are made of Adamantium, impossible to break free from!"

"Good to see New York's finest at work," Ranma said with a look of respect on her face, adding "Am I ever glad that that asshole Burke seems to have been the bad seed!" in a low mutter.

Sergeant Chavez tipped his visored cap. "Just doing our jobs, ma'am!"

Ranma inclined her head. "And I'm glad that it's not me in shackles this time," she mused lightly to which Sergeant Chavez just inclined his head, conceding the point.

"Oh my, is it really necessary to treat my sister like that, Officer?" Kasumi asked in a concerned yet mellifluous way.

Chavez's expression hardened and his eyes glinted coolly as he looked Kasumi in the eyes. "It's Sergeant. And you're asking me that after that display? Your sister gave Ranma some nasty bruising, a black eye and I bet a few ribs are cracked! She can count her blessings she hit YinYang Spider aka Ranma! A normal human being would be dead and she would be facing murder charges! Of course it's necessary to detain someone so violent! Alvarez, take her into custody!"

"Yessir!" a 1.75 metres tall dark-haired officer seemingly consisting solely of muscle affirmed and led a cursing Akane away.

"Good. Once you're done take fifteen officers to take statements and help secure the area, Alvarez! Officers Taggart, Simmons, Chase, Stendel and Henson will stay with me!" Sergeant Chavez ordered, getting several affirmatives.

Soun, who was just now recovering his wits, hissed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BABY DAUGHTER, RANMA!" in full demon-head mode.

The metallic noises of guns being shifted lightning quick echoed through the evening air, and Soun Tendo found himself staring into the barrels of a lot of guns. "Eh heh heh, can't we talk this through?" a sweating and returned to normal Soun whimpered, holding up his hands in a placating way.

"Pathetic!" spat Ranma, Amnar, Happosai and Genma in unison.

"Indeed," Chavez sneered and ordered his officers to stand down, his gaze returning to the body of Kodachi Kuno which he had noticed during their arrival, "Scott, check up on the body over there at the Sedan! Pronto!" he bellowed, getting an affirmative from the so named Miss Scott, and looked at Ranma, "Miss, what happened here?"

"Taking Ranma's history with Kodachi Kuno into account I'd say it's safe to assume he killed her in revenge," Nabiki cut in with a shrug.

Ranma lazily turned her head to regard the middle Tendo daughter, her eyes glacial. "That's just like you, Tendo. Blackmail didn't work so you go for backstabbing. Rest assured, that was the last time!"

"Did you hear that, Sergeant? He threatene-"

"Kindly shut up, Miss," Sergeant Chavez interrupted sharply.

"What?" Nabiki exclaimed indignantly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, did I?" Sergeant Chavez inquired rhetorically, sneering, "Didn't think so," when no reply was forthcoming. "I have twenty professionals on site, Miss. They're taking statements as we speak. Your... contribution, however dubious in nature, is duly noted. Now do not hinder my investigation or you won't like the consequences! We're not in Japan and you play by my rules, is that clear?"

"Yes," Nabiki muttered through grit teeth, her facial expression conveying just how pissed she was.

"Aww, little Nabiki-chan didn't get her way? Boohoo!" Ranma mouthed mockingly, eliciting a glare on Nabiki's part.

"Will the little backstabber ever learn?" Happosai inquired and looked at the heavens as if asking for celestial assistance.

"Not likely," Amnar commented thoughtfully, "She's too set in her ways."

Happosai hmmed. "We all choose our paths and must live with the consequences of our choices. Cause and effect and all that."

"Will be interesting to see the effects of their choices, no?" Genma inquired meaningfully, to which Happosai just smirked.

Amnar on her part raised a brow and thought, **'Now that sounded ominous. Wouldn't want to be Nodoka, Nabiki, or a Tendo, period!'**

-.-

Sergeant Chavez had meanwhile prompted Ranma to give her statement, and the redhead grimaced. "Before I get to that, may I take a few more moments to heal myself? That headache is bugging the hell outta me!"

"Heal yourself? What do you mean?" the Sergeant inquired curiously, a brow cocked.

"Just that I'll use my ki to heal the damage Miss Tendo has inflicted upon me. Please shield your eyes," Ranma cautioned and grit her teeth, and she was pleased to see that Sergeant Chavez and his subordinates complied without a word.

Firming her expression more for show than anything else Ranma brought out her aura, basking the immediate surroundings in a white light. Then she quickly commanded Sym to start healing her while directing her ki and healing factor to do the same, and a blinding flash of light later Ranma was as good as new.

"Ahh, that's better!" Ranma muttered contently and cracked her neck, a sigh of relief escaping her.

"My compliments, dear! You've got even better!" Happosai spoke up with a proud grin.

"I aim to please, master," Ranma replied with a small smile to which Happosai inclined his head.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own bloody eyes..." a male officer spoke up, and the man blinked a few times to ascertain the veracity of what he was seeing, yet the facts remained unchanged, "But it's true, she's all healed up!"

"Thanks for that amazing observation, Stanton," Sergeant Chavez said dryly, eliciting a shrug from the other man, "But right you are, that was... impressive. Maybe we can discuss this later, but I need your statement so we can wrap things up."

"Of course," Ranma nodded and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking at the Sergeant with serious eyes. "You'll probably recognise Kodachi Kuno and her significance," she began, eliciting a nod from Chavez, "Allow me to introduce my clone," she continued, nodding her head at Amnar, "whom we have christened Amnar to solve the irritating name issue."

"Pleasure to meet you, Sergeant," Amnar greeted, nodding her head in respect.

"The pleasure's mine, Miss Amnar," Sergeant Chavez nodded back.

Ranma briefly closed her eyes and gathered herself. "I know you know my story which I inadvertently told the world, Sergeant, but here's some more highlights. Amnar here is my clone, made by Miles Warren. He, or rather she, at the moment, believed herself to be the original, and we clashed with me defeating her by the skin of my teeth."

"Now, it wasn't that close, sis. Round two however..." Amnar trailed off and sighed.

"Yeah, round two," Ranma muttered with a few absent nods and involuntarily touched her chest, "Anyway, that crazy bitch Kodachi had gained the power to control plants due to an accident, and with it the ability to control people. It so happened with Amnar, and with She-Hulk over there. Hey Jen, everything under control?"

All eyes were on the jade-green giantess who had slowly walked up to them and was now blushing a dark green in embarrassment. "Yes, things are looking good now, Ranma. Spidey-"

"On a first name basis with the super heroine She-Hulk, are we?" Nabiki cut in with glittering eyes, "Wonder what-"

"She saved my hide, little girl," She-Hulk interrupted rudely, "Pulled me out of the way of an attack with Adamantium bullets that would probably have killed me and beat the snot out of the attackers! And she saved me from becoming a mindless tool of destruction today. So don't butt in where it's neither wanted nor needed, got me?" she demanded, her glowing green eyes drilling into Nabiki.

"Y- Yes!" Nabiki squeaked after audibly swallowing, and it was clear as crystal that the young woman was trying her hardest not to glower at everyone due to the prevalent amusement stemming from the reaming the middle Tendo sister had just received.

"Good!" She-Hulk remarked with one last glare at Nabiki that made the Ice Queen flinch and turned her head to look at Ranma, "As I was saying-"

"I prote-" Soun began.

"You got something to add, no-spine-man?" She-Hulk interrupted with a cold look.

Soun gazed up into the cold green eyes of She-Hulk and paled. "N- No!" he squeaked and made himself look small as he faded into the background.

"Didn't think so!" She-Hulk snorted and Amnar sneered, "Jellyfish-man learned that his posturing and bluster doesn't work in the big leagues. Aww!"

She-Hulk smiled alongside Ranma and Happosai as Soun glowered ineffectually, her eyes going distant for a moment before narrowing on Nabiki. "As said, Ranma saved me. I'd be dead or at least severely wounded which is why we are on a first name basis, little missy. You-"

"Why do you people keep addressing my manly son as female?" Nodoka suddenly demanded angrily, inserting herself in the conversation after having remained silent for several minutes.

Ranma palmed her face and muttered, "She just doesn't learn," but it was She-Hulk who answered. "Because Ranma's female at the moment, duh!" she retorted in a voice one would use to explain a problem to a small child.

"Ranma's a manly man regardless of gender!" Nodoka insisted firmly, much to the disbelief of Sergeant Chavez and those of his unit in close proximity.

"Brilliant tactic, oh delusional 'mom'," Amnar muttered with a shake of her head and added, "That she still hasn't grasped that she isn't in control of the situation doesn't speak well for her mental wellbeing!"

She-Hulk snorted in amusement alongside Ranma and Happosai as Nodoka glowered. "I've yet to see the change to male myself, but Ranma told me she's female when female and male when male," the green-skinned woman retorted again before anyone else could speak up, and frowning she added, "Which nutcase would heap the pressure of having to act manly all the time on their child, regardless of the gender, anyway? Oh, that's right, you!"

She-Hulk's imposing physique and obvious negative attitude prompted Nodoka to think twice about insulting the green-skinned super heroine, and thus she turned to the snickering Ranma with a huff. "Change back to your male stature now!"

Ranma regarded Nodoka like she were a never before seen creature. "Dunno what kinda drugs you're doing, 'mom', but you should adapt your dose! The current one seems to have a negative effect on your mental faculties, 'cause there's no other explanation as to why you deluded yourself yet again into thinking you could order me around! Which, as I clearly remember, I told you not five minutes ago: no one lords over me, least of all you, _Nodoka_!"

Happosai, Amnar and even Genma snickered as Nodoka purpled. "You-"

"Shut the fuck up, 'mom'!" Ranma snarled with a focussed burst of ki ensuring just that, "I'm not in the mood to listen to you wasting air spewing your tripe! So if you don't want to be knocked out shut your fucking trap!"

Nodoka sputtered and was about to retort, but the look of conviction and fury in Ranma's eyes convinced the older woman to heed her estranged child's advice for the time being.

"I guess there won't be any more interruptions, Jen. So please carry on," Ranma prompted, her voice sounding a bit strained.

"If there are the one responsible for it will be eating through a straw for a month! That's my third try now, and I don't make a habit of being interrupted!" She-Hulk remarked in an annoyed tone, "Anyway, before I answer, if you don't mind me asking, why are you staying female? Wouldn't being in male form bring psychological advantages?"

Ranma smiled, indicating she wasn't offended. "I don't really need to be in my bigger male form," she briefly changed to male and back and brought out her energy claws which elicited gasps of surprise from Nodoka and the Tendos, "Seeing as I'm very intimidating in my own right. As for why I prefer being female for the time being, it so annoys the snot out of dear old 'mom'!"

Nodoka frowned harshly, but kept quiet, her facial expression proving the veracity of Ranma's words. "That's evident!" She-Hulk snorted and shook her head, "Anyway, the situation's mostly under control now. Spidey stayed behind to help clear up the rest, but there was no longer a need for heavy hitters.

"And it's true, Sergeant Chavez. I had the Kuno girl captured when suddenly she crushed her lips to mine. I was feeling so dizzy all of a sudden, the world went hazy and then blank. Next thing I know I wake up in the middle of a destroyed street. A street that I apparently destroyed! That Kodachi girl had full control of me! There's no telling what could've happened had she got her hands or other parts on other heroes and villains!"

"Okay, that clears up the mind control issue. Now, who offed the girl?" Chavez inquired in a tone that was all business.

"That was me," Amnar spoke up without hesitation, her voice hard and clear, "After my sis had broken me free from Kodachi's control I returned here, sneaked up on her, made her believe I had beaten Ranma and killed her with those," she explained and showcased the energy claws on her right hand, "I loathe killing with a passion, but she had to be stopped or Kami-sama knows what she might have done! I just saw no other way."

Experienced officer that he was Sergeant Chavez noticed no deceit. "Thanks for your honesty, dear. You'll have to be taken into custody later on, and an investigation will be conducted. Off the record, it's my personal opinion you prevented much worse, especially with the forces amassed on that Kuno girl's side," he said grimly. "I'll be sure to note that in my report. Killing's never easy, and I'm glad you took no joy in it!"

Amnar nodded gravely. "Thanks, sir. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, and taking my... memories of Ranma's life into account that's saying something!"

"Why did you kill her?" Soun exclaimed, "The Art is to protect the weak! There had to have been another way!"

Amnar rounded on Soun like liquid lightning, her expression as black as thunder. "Come down from your moral high, old man! One with the moral integrity of an earthworm such as yourself should be very wary of glasshouses and stones anyway," she sneered, cracking her knuckles menacingly while the irises of her eyes burned with fire, "And which part of what was just said didn't you understand? Or are you just going senile, you old geezer? I killed Kodachi to stop that crazy nut from going on a rampage through all of New York! What would've happened had she got me under her control again, huh? I'm immensely powerful, even more so than my sis! No offense, sis."

"None taken. What she said is right, Tendo-baka! I was her punching bag for most of our second clash! She almost killed me, in fact! Had she stayed under Kodachi's control or had the bitch seized back control this city would be burning like the pits of hell!" Ranma said with conviction.

"But-"

Ranma shook her head to rid herself of the feeling of disgust and walked up to Chavez. "Sergeant Chavez, please allow me to handle this from here on out. This... man, and I use the term loosely, and I need to have words!"

Several eyes shot open at Ranma asking for something, anything, fact that drove home just how little they knew about this 'new' Ranma. Sergeant Chavez simply nodded. "Gauging from your story you've got a lot to get off your chest, lady. Take your time," he said with a benevolent nod and added in a low mutter, "Wish I had some popcorn!"

"Ranma," She-Hulk spoke up, making the redhead look at the greenette, "I have to cut my stay short. Got an appointment scheduled. Court case, you know?"

"No worries, Jen. Give them the low-down!" Ranma retorted with a grin.

"Will do!" She-Hulk agreed, mirroring the grin for a moment before getting serious, "I'll join up with you as soon as you're in custody, okay?"

Ranma suppressed the feelings the thought of going toe to toe with the juridical system again evoked in her and nodded. "Right. Thank you, Jen."

Jennifer Walters inclined her head, nodded at Happosai and Genma and after giving the Tendos and Nodoka a baleful glare the super heroine flexed her leg muscles and jumped away.

-.-

Ranma smiled as she watched her green-skinned friend make her exit and shook her head in amusement. She then carefully blanked her expression, her measured steps taking her to Soun Tendo. "Let's start simple, Tendo. You asked what I was doing to 'your baby daughter' a few minutes ago. The answer should be obvious: nothing! Nothing but letting her act the way she acted towards me most of the time! I just said a few things, things that are normal for any female of the human species-"

Nabiki, having remained silent in favour of watching how things would develop cut in with a sneer, "You are no girl, Saotome. You're a freak. A freak whose femininity can be taken away by a glass of warm fluid!"

Ranma cocked a scarlet brow. "How the mighty have fallen. Things don't go so well for the Tendos and the Ice Queen resorts to insults, like a commoner," she said with a sad shake of her head, "But I won't discuss this with you, Nabiki Tendo, I'll just say this much: I'm as much of a young woman as you are when I'm female. Your machinations ensured that! Besides, a keg of Nannichuan would as easily take away your femininity half of the time. So my status of aquatransexuality is hardly defining," she retorted levelly and turned her head to look at Soun Tendo again.

"Is that a threat, Ranma? Don't forget, I'm recording every word," Nabiki hissed, her brown eyes glinting coldly.

"No threat, just an example," Ranma replied without even turning around, a cold grin blooming on her face, "And it seems old habits die hard, don't they? Still recording everything to maximise the chance of making a Yen? Too bad it isn't legal around here, eh, Tendo?"

"You heard the lady! Seize whatever listening or recording device she has on her and search her for anything that might be incriminating," Chavez commanded.

"You can't do that! I am a Japanese citizen, that's illegal!" Nabiki protested indignantly.

"Would you kindly show me your entry permit?" Sergeant Chavez prompted none too kindly, "Then we'll see how illegal it is, Miss Japanese citizen!"

**'Brilliant switch of tactics!'** Ranma crowed mentally, her face sporting a satisfied smile.

– _**Indeed. Our first meeting with the Sergeant did not suggest it, but he is very good, –**_ Sym commented, her tone conveying she was impressed.

Nabiki fumbled for words, a look of anger appearing on her face. A look at a smugly grinning and innocently whistling Happosai caused her expression to darken even more as realisation set in. "It was you, wasn't it? You planned this, all of this!"

"What would a lowly martial artist like me know about your oh so brilliant high tech, eh, Nabiki-chan?" Happosai queried mockingly and sneered, "Did you really think a man of my calibre wouldn't notice?"

"You played me," the middle Tendo girl realised, her ire rising.

"Like a fiddle," the Grandmaster confirmed with a sinister grin, "Oh, Sergeant Chavez, here are Genma Saotome's and my own entry permit," he said casually and handed the Officer the documents.

"The Master has turned on us! We're doomed!" Soun wailed and erupted in tears.

"Daddy, that's not helping!" Nabiki almost yelled, and Ranma had the distinct impression the middle sister was a hairsbreadth away from stomping her foot.

"Waaah! Nabiki-chan's yelling at me!" Soun cried, tears streaming down his face.

Sergeant Chavez, a brow raised, quickly ignored the Tendo patriarch's blubbering just like everyone else and browsed through the documents, hmmed a few times and nodded. "This is in order," he said with a nod and handed the entry permits back to Happosai under the gobsmacked looks of the other Nerimans, "So, am I to assume that the rest of you 'forgot' your entry permits?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh my! I didn't know we would need one!" Kasumi exclaimed, her tone innocently naive.

"Ignorance is no excuse in law, ma'am," Sergeant Chavez retorted sternly.

"Why do you have an entry permit, husband?" Nodoka asked suspiciously, her face stern.

"In simple words, because I was a good boy and didn't believe in Ranma's guilt!" Genma retorted flatly, his eyes flashing with barely repressed anger.

"Of course we do not have entry permits! Happosai teleported us here!" Nabiki hissed before she could stop herself.

"Well, in that case... Those without entry permits will be charged with illegal entering! And that is grounds enough for a thorough search," Sergeant Chavez informed the silent and pale Nerimans stone-facedly, just a small smile that was hardly there betraying that he enjoyed this development, "Mind you, you will each be taken into custody once this situation is resolved! Taggart! Search the charming Miss Japanese citizen first!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi whispered, her face pale.

"Yessir, on it!" a tall brunette female officer whose nametag read Taggart exclaimed and walked briskly over to Nabiki where she began to search an indignant middle Tendo daughter none too gently.

"I'll get you for this, Ranma! I'll ruin your reputation so that you'll never be able to run a dojo anywhere on the planet!" Nabiki hissed, her eyes alight with fury.

"Ouch!" Ranma exclaimed and theatrically pressed her right hand over her heart, before grinning and replying with a sneer, "You know, that would've bothered me if I actually wanted to open a dojo. I have more going for me than just the Art nowadays," she added with a grin, "Aww, widdle little Nabiki didn't expect that from the dumb martial arts jock? Too bad."

"I'll-"

"Blah blah! Heard it all before, Nabs. Oh, and no offense, Officer Taggart, get used to the feel of female hands on your body, Tendo! All over your body," Ranma smirked, her eyes twinkling maliciously, "You'll get to enjoy that a lot after they've started to look into your 'deals'."

Officer Taggart briefly looked up from her search and oh so accidently touched a very private part of Nabiki which elicited an indignant squeak. "Sorry, protocol," Taggart said way too innocently, "And no offense taken, ma'am."

Ranma inclined her head and smiled. "Thanks for your understanding, Officer Taggart," she replied seeing as being polite never hurt.

Officer Taggart shot Ranma a small smile and turned her head to look at her superior officer. "Sir, the search yielded one camera of sophisticated design, a pocket notebook, a DAT recorder, several photos of questionable nature and a few ten-thousand Yen in cash."

"Very well. Take her into custody and lock the evidence away! I have a feel that the lab guys will have a jolly good time with her stuff," Sergeant Chavez commented with a shake of his head.

"Yessir!" Officer Taggart affirmed and shackled a fuming Nabiki's hands and feet.

Before the officer could lead the middle Tendo daughter away Happosai called out, "Say, Officer Taggart, may I have a look at the pocket notebook? I have my suspicions about it!"

Officer Taggart looked at her commanding officer who gave a crisp nod, and reaching into her pocket to retrieve the pocket notebook the young woman left an indignant Nabiki standing in the middle of the road and began to walk slowly towards the Grandmaster.

Just as Officer Taggart absently browsed through the seemingly empty pages and the others were tied up in conversations Happosai enacted another of his plans. Reaching into his storage space so quickly no one aside from Ranma and Amnar was able to perceive it he threw a large scroll into the air. The scroll exploded in the air with absolutely no sound and at an unbelievable speed, dispersing its contents right above Nabiki's position in a torrent of fluid.

And where a young woman had stood not seconds ago some kind of small dog similar in build to a Chihuahua was standing in a pile of drenched clothes, the shackles dropping to the ground around it with metallic clanks. The dog whined in confusion and fear, and those who had observed the tail-end of what had happened were left staring wide-eyed.

Ranma had a hard time keeping the stupid smile that threatened to form off her face and the surprised and shocked expression in place, and one glance at her 'sister' told her that the other redhead was in the same situation. **'Can't believe that Happi pulled that off, it's brilliant! And it looks like a dog curse mixed with water from the spring of drowned octopus. Hilarious!'** she thought, the twinkle in her eyes mirrored by Amnar.

– _**Indeed. Now the 'mercenary girl' is well and truly an ugly bitch, –**_ Sym commented in malicious amusement.

"Nabiki!" Soun, Kasumi and Nodoka exclaimed in horrified stereo, but were stopped from saying or doing anything by Happosai shepherding them with his menacing battle aura.

"Would you look at that! Kami-sama himself finds Nabiki-chan wanting!" the Anything Goes Grandmaster exclaimed smugly and took a long drag from his pipe, all the while easily keeping his targets in check. "Alas, if only she had listened and changed her ways, who knows, maybe this wouldn't have happened!"

"This is... fitting," Amnar opined amused, and Ranma nodded absently and decided to walk towards the girl-turned-dog to get a better look at the transformed Nabiki, "My, aren't you the ugliest little thing? All those little tentacles at your muzzle and your... backside. My, Nabiki-chan, you're a freak!"

Nabiki growled and yipped and tried to bite Ranma, but the redhead just flared her battle aura, literally shocking the girl-turned-dog. "You're right, sis. This is fitting for the bitch!"

"What the hell just happened here?" Sergeant Chavez demanded.

"The way I figure, divine retribution, Sergeant!" Ranma spoke up and shrugged, "Or how would you explain the heavens opening up and cursing the bitch, pardon, Nabiki Tendo?"

Sergeant Chavez closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, finally opening them to let his gaze sweep over his troop who looked just as unsettled as he. "Did anyone see anything beside this... torrent of water dropping on Miss Japanese citizen out of nowhere?"

Heads were shaken and mutters of "No, sir," were offered, and the commanding officer sighed. "If I were a drinker I could blame it on the alcohol, but seeing as that," he absently waved his right hand at the girl-turned-dog, "really happened..." he trailed off and shook his head, visibly gathering himself, "Nothing we can do about it anyway. Taggart, hand Mr Happosai the notebook! Simmons, secure the... dog!"

"Be very careful not to touch the clothes or the water! If it's cursed water, and I bet it is, even this little amount could curse you!" Ranma warned urgently, causing Officer Simmons to stop in her tracks, eyes wide, "Better yet, how about I use my webbing and you fetch a blanket for the bi... Her?" the redhead suggested, "Don't want the poor thing to catch a cold, do we?"

Officer Simmons, a tall Caucasian female, smiled at the sarcasm in Ranma's words. "Thanks for the warning, ma'am! Be right back!"

Ranma nodded and watched the female officers, Taggart having paused to watch, complete their tasks. Happosai had just accepted the notebook from officer Taggart with a smile when officer Simmons stepped to Ranma's side, a blue blanket gathered in her arms. The redhead nodded at Simmons, took aim at the shivering and whining girl-turned-dog and fired her webbing. A soft yank later the dog had been catapulted through the air with whimper of fear and ended up in the female officer's arms, Simmons giving the human-turned-dog a firm cuff on the nose when she tried to bite her. "Can it, you nasty little bugger!"

Not just Happosai smiled at the petulant whine emanating from the dog, and shaking his head in amusement he opened the leather-bound notebook, his face becoming serious as he sifted through it. "At first glance this appears to be completely virgin, but I can feel residual ki on the pages. Someone wrote in it and took great care to hide their tracks. I do not know which method was used, likely some kind of invisible ink or something similar, but I think I can unveil the secrets this little baby holds by channelling my ki into it," he mused thoughtfully.

"Brilliant!" Ranma exclaimed, "Every stroke of a pen, pencil or biro leaves some of the author's ki behind, and channelling a stronger ki into the hidden writing should do the trick and cause the writing to reappear!"

Happosai nodded absently, the look of concentration never leaving his face. "Heureka!" he crowed ten seconds later, and the Grandmaster held up the notebook so that the others could see the first two pages that were filled with a precise, undeniably feminine scrawl.

Ranma, Amnar and Sergeant Chavez all crowded around the Grandmaster to get a better look, and the Police officer sucked in a breath. "Bloody hell! This is... big!"

"Understatement of the year, Sergeant," Ranma commented softly, her facial expression conveying her disbelief, "I can't believe Nabiki Tendo got blackmail material on just about any important Japanese politician!"

"What?" Soun, Kasumi and Nodoka exclaimed in stereo while Nabiki whined.

"Don't pretend to be shocked, you bunch of liars! I bet you knew all about it and were looking forward to benefit from it!" Amnar spat, her face contorted in an expression that was as black as thunder, "Blackmailing even two of these guys would've set you for live, you backstabbing bastards!"

Exclamations of outrage and denial emanated from Nodoka and Soun, but Sergeant Chavez ignored it. "Is there a way to get her," he pointed at Nabiki, "statement on this? This is damn incriminating."

"If it's the same curse magic as mine, yes, there is. Any sufficiently hot fluid will trigger the change to the original form," Ranma offered in way of an explanation.

"Ma'am, we got coffee. Would that work?" Officer Taggart spoke up.

"Sure! Don't see why not," Ranma nodded with a shrug, her eyes twinkling slowly.

Sergeant Chavez nodded at Officer Taggart who then hurried to her police car to fetch the offered goods. Half a minute later Taggart had returned with a silver thermos and directed a questioning glance at Ranma. "What now, ma'am?"

"Just uncork the thermos and splash her with a good amount," Ranma explained, having a hard time keeping her expression neutral while thinking, **'Hah, payback's a bitch, Nabiki!'**

Officer Simmons let the girl-turned dog to the ground, keeping the blanket in her arms, and stepped aside, giving Officer Taggart a nod. The redheaded officer nodded back and did as requested, and Nabiki wailed as soon as the hot fluid met with her body, the dog's wail turning into a human yelp of pain as she transformed. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" a nude Nabiki yelled and used her hands to fan herself, her backside a vibrant red.

Quickly becoming aware of her state of undress and the stares directed at her Nabiki grabbed the blanket and wrapped tightly around her body, her glare daring anyone to say anything. "Can it with the lame intimidation tactics, li'l gal, you got nothing we ain't seen before!" Officer Taggart sneered, her colleagues adding their own agreeing exclamations.

"Oh, I bet she begs to differ as it never was her and her goods that were on display. She always used footage and other stuff of m... my sister to make money. Her? She'd never lower herself to something so... plebeian," Amnar snarked, her glowing red eyes pinning Nabiki like a butterfly.

"She made money off footage of you, ma'am?" Sergeant Chavez asked Ranma, his tone of voice level and professional.

"Yes. She sold photos of me to admirers for what I bet was a good amount of money. Probably made video clips of me too, come to think of. And as clever and greedy as she is, I bet she found other ways to make money off of me. Not that I ever saw a miserable Yen of it," Ranma explained, shrugging sarcastically at the end of the explanation.

"I see. Well, and another thing to look into," Sergeant Chavez mused almost to himself, his eyes narrowing, "You sure are a piece of work, Miss Japanese citizen. Seems like it was a mistake to leave Nerima.

"It is Nerima, the same where you hail from, right?" he asked, nodding at Genma and Happosai.

"Yes," Grandmaster and student affirmed.

Sergeant Chavez nodded. "It seems you had a lot of leeway where you're from, Miss Tendo, but I can guarantee that we won't leave a stone unturned once we start digging."

"You won't get away with this!" Nabiki hissed coldly and turned her head to glare at Ranma, "You, Ranma, you will pay for what happened to me! And I didn't write this," the middle Tendo sister jabbed a finger at the notebook, "It's not even mine! This is nothing more than a crude attempt at implicating me!"

"Thanks for your statement, Miss Tendo, it will be entered on the records. And rest assured, the CSI will find out if it's a crude attempt or not," Sergeant Chavez said levelly.

"I got nothing to hide," Nabiki sneered and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, her hands grasping the rim of the blanket firmly to keep it in place.

"We shall see how many skeletons the police will find in your closet once they start

their investigation. And pay, you said? Good that you remind me, you owe Officer Taggart ten bucks, Nabiki-chan!" Ranma twittered, brushing off Nabiki's threat as not noteworthy.

"Whatever for, ma'am?" asked Officer Taggart curiously in lieu of the sneering and fuming Nabiki.

"The ten bucks are a fee for services rendered, that being you providing her with the means of changing back. She used to charge me for hot water all the time," Ranma explained levelly.

Incredulous expressions were exchanged amongst the officers while Nabiki cursed like a sailor, and shaking his head Sergeant Chavez sneered, "Take the charming Miss Tendo away, Taggart, and tell the station to have dog biscuits on hand in case there's not hot water available."

Officer Taggart nodded and led a struggling and cursing Nabiki away with more force than would probably have been necessary after she had read her her rights.

"Maybe they should have some soap on hand as well what with all those dirty words coming out of her mouth," Amnar quipped dryly, causing much amusement.

"There's a thought," Sergeant Chavez mused, the corners of his mouth quirking up ever so slightly as he watched Nabiki being led away.

-.-

The remaining Nerimans sans Happosai and Genma watched a fuming but pale-faced Nabiki Tendo being led away by Officer Taggart in visible shock as no one had anticipated this turn of events.

"And then there were two. It's a bit like playing burning ball with just the Tendos as the targets, isn't it?" Ranma commented mock-thoughtfully, the smirk blooming on her face conveying her satisfaction.

"I would liken it to shooting fish in a barrel, but when it's deserved..." Amnar trailed off with a shrug.

"Isn't it sad? So young and so morally corrupt," Happosai mused, his tone fake-sad, "And she only has herself to blame!"

"Amen to that. Say, master, not that I mind, but why are my 'mom' and jell-o Soun so quiet?" Ranma asked curiously, her right brow cocked.

"Oh, that. Well, they were annoying me so much with their incessant and loud yelling that I used pressure points to silence them," Happosai said with a shrug and blurred over to the adults in question, undoing their afflictions, "Now, I kindly advise you to think before you speak!"

Ranma and Amnar exchanged a look and said, "Not gonna happen!" in stereo.

As if to prove their point Soun's face purpled and tears began to streak down his face. "Waaah! Nabiki! Waaah! Not you too!" he wailed, but his cries were only met with looks of disgust.

"I wonder what the police will find once they start digging deeper?" Genma mused to himself.

"What Kami-sama wants them to find, dad, nothing more, nothing less," Ranma answered levelly.

"I suppose," Genma mused with a shrug, "Just hope He's feeling a bit vindictive."

"I doubt she kept her nose clean, knowing her love of deals and Yen," Amnar snorted, "So no worries there!"

"I know for a fact Nabiki-chan didn't," Happosai commented calmly and took a deep puff from his pipe, "And I assume that the notebook was just the tip of the iceberg."

"Whatever will be, will be," Ranma mused and smiled thinly, "In the end she only has herself to blame."

"Too true, sis. If she gets convicted it's because of her own actions, and she'll get what she deserves. Whatever that is," Amnar opined calmly.

"What does all this mean?" Nodoka exploded suddenly and rounded on Ranma, "No manly man lets himself be called 'Miss' and 'ma'am'! No manly man treats his potential fiancées like that! Apologise this instant and rectify the situation, or else!" she hissed, fingering the ever-present bundle on her back.

Ranma didn't even bother being surprised and just narrowed her eyes, leaking very strong and focussed killing intent at her mother, "You're really hard of learning, aren't you? The master just graciously allowed you to speak not a minute ago, and here you pull the same stunt? Fucking unbelievable! And I told you before, your words and beliefs mean nothing to me, so shut the fuck up, you crazy bint!" she hissed, and using her speed she made good on her previous threat, knocking her estranged mother out using knock-out pressure points.

Once Nodoka had crumbled to the ground Ranma's eyes met Chavez'. "I just went a step further than my master seeing as my 'mother' is nothing short of unteachable, it seems! She's just knocked out and will be for a few minutes. As much as I hate her, I would never endanger my unborn siblings!"

Sergeant Chavez nodded once. "I had assumed as much."

Nodding back Ranma turned back to Soun who was whimpering out, "Worse than the master," over and over again.

"Want to make a bet out of that?" Happosai asked nonchalantly and brought out his own aura just for fun which he channelled at Soun, making the moustached man whimper that much more.

An amused look from Ranma had Happosai stop, and the redhead shook her head. "You could have avoided all of this had you just shown courage and responsibility, Soun Tendo!" she said with an almost sigh. The very air charging up with angry power belied the regret, however. "If you were a responsible adult you would have interfered in the beatings and malletings I received! Now it's become habitual, and I'd have to be very mistaken if Akane's rages aren't caused by her using anger-based ki!"

"As said before, they are," Amnar supplied solemnly, "I got no doubt about it!"

Ranma nodded a few times, her eyes narrowing at a paling Soun. "You would also never have agreed to the joining of the schools, Tendo. Not only is the only practitioner – Ryoga excluded – a violent maniac as just proven but woefully undertrained!

"Shut the fuck up!" Ranma hissed when a red-faced Soun opened his mouth to protest, "Fact aside that I'll never even consider participating in that blasted joining of the schools after how you treated me, after what you believed of me, you have no case, juridical speaking!

"A joining of two parts means that these two parts contribute roughly the same! As said, you don't contribute more than a violent maniac you wanted me to marry! And don't get me started on the other two, backstabbing lot that they are! Face it, there is no joining, idiots!" she hissed scathingly and glared at the two remaining Tendos with the full force of her ki.

"Hearing it said like that brings a tear to my eyes," Happosai sighed, "It rams home the point that it's truly over! There will be no joining of the schools, not now, probably never. But it is as they say, better to make a painful break than to draw out the agony. And let me say this, watching the attempts at uniting the schools was more than agonising!"

"But Master!"

"Don't but master me, Soun! It's over!" growled Happosai and nodded his head at Ranma, "You idiots just assumed you could waltz back into Ranma's life, take her home and go back to how things were after throwing her away like a broken toy! Threw her to the wolves you did, and arrogated yourselves to act like it's all love, peace and harmony once she had proven her innocence! The arrogance! You disgust me!"

Ranma favoured the ancient Grandmaster with a rare, genuine smile while Soun fumbled for words. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Grandmaster," she said gratefully, her eyes going cold as she turned her head to look back at Soun, "All that aside, there is no Ranma Saotome thanks to the oh so wise Saotome Clan leader, so fucking get it through your thick skulls: I have no obligation to any of you!"

"But Ranma-kun, what about your honour?" Kasumi asked almost demurely while her father sputtered.

Ranma's head whipped around like a snake about to strike, and for a moment a look of intense betrayal and loathing burned in her eyes that made Kasumi recoil as if struck. "Honour, you say? Funny that you of all people should talk about honour! Where was your honour when it mattered? When I'd have needed support and help that before I was always willing to offer? Mind you, I was hardly a saint, but I was there when I was needed! You, you threw me to the lions, just like your father and sisters and my so called mother!" she snarled, spitting the last word like a foul epitaph.

"But the evidence-"

"Oh come on, mirror clones ring a bell? Ancient magical artefacts, curses, anyone? Happened before, didn't it?" Ranma sneered, forcing Kasumi to nod, tears brimming in her eyes that the redhead easily ignored, "There was always some magic or the other that could've explained it, but blaming me was easier, eh? Akane and I weren't working out, neither Nabiki nor you wanted to marry the martial arts jock, the one trick pony, so you got rid of me!"

"N- No-"

"You were a bit too slow in covering up your guilty expression, Tendo!" Ranma commented in an almost friendly tone, her head bopping up and down in mock-understanding, "Oh, I understand it all too well! You see, I had a lot of time to think in my seven months as a Ryker's inmate. There was always the next crazy and powerful challenger popping up to fight me in Nerima, and you and Nabiki didn't want to get dragged down with me! That's why!" she snarled in a tone as frigid as the vacuum of space.

"Know that I'll always loath you. I won't pull a Ryoga and vow to destroy your happiness," she sneered, her hands including the unconscious Nodoka and the Tendos, "but-"

"Where the hell am I now!" the voice belonging to one Ryoga Hibiki bellowed.

"I don't bloody believe it! Hey p-chan," Ranma and Amnar exclaimed in unison, sharing an amused grin even as the police officers on site pointed their guns at a bewildered Ryoga. "Not to worry, Sergeant Chavez, this is Ryoga Hibiki, one of my former... associates. He has the ability to pop up anywhere on the planet, without control."

"Ah, I see," Chavez replied in a tone that clearly suggested he didn't, but he ordered his unit to stand down nonetheless, "By all means, carry on, Miss."

"The question is, where the hell have you been these last months, boy?" Soun demanded in an obvious attempt at deflecting attention away from himself, "Even with your bad sense of direction, I thought you had stood Akane up!"

Ryoga ignored Soun and looked from Ranma to Amnar. "You know there's two of you, Ranma?" he asked with both brows raised.

"Yes," original and clone replied neutrally in eerie unison, "Meet my clone, Amnar! And no, she's not of the murdering kind like the first clone."

The brows climbed further into the hairline. "I really don't want to know! But I'm glad that you're alive, all two of you – man, this will take some getting used to – and that I've found you. Ranma, I want to apologise."

-.-

Slack jaws met this particular announcement.

"Oh?" Ranma inquired in lieu of a more sophisticated reply.

"It's true," Ryoga said and wrung his hands, "See, after your successor showed me my limits by dominating the fight and breaking my jaw – yeah, I deserved it! – I had a lot of time to think. Why had I believed the worst of you after all we'd been through? Because it was so bloody convenient! You were out of the way, Akane was better than Akari, or so I thought-"

"What do you mean, or so you thought?" Soun bristled angrily.

"Wow, I'm impressed he kept his head, or rather his demon head, in check," Happosai mocked before producing a large tub of popcorn. "Popcorn, anyone? This is getting more and more interesting!"

Ryoga for his part didn't even spare Soun a glance. "I woke up to reality. Akane can be a sweet and caring girl, but her anger issues really got out of hand! I had barely been out of hospital when she hit me for a perceived slight! Almost reopened my injury. She was very apologetic afterwards, but that wasn't the last time. I finally understood how you must've felt, Ranma, and it was sobering!

"So I did what I rarely do, I sat down and thought. I realised I had believed the worst of you, someone with whom I've been through hell and back just to get my dream girl. Only she didn't turn out to be. Akari is," he muttered with intense self-loathing. The feeling of intense depression ebbed away and the lost boy looked Ranma right into the eyes, "My reasons were selfish and I cannot apologise enough for believing the worst of you. Feh, I can't even apologise right! I'll be going now so I won't darken your lives any longer. Good bye."

With that Ryoga trudged away, a sickly green aura surrounding him, and Ranma, well aware that the lost boy might do something drastic in his present state of mind, looked deep into herself. Finally, having found the capacity to forgive inside of herself she looked up. Ryoga hadn't managed more than a few steps when the redhead called out, "Ryoga, I forgive you."

Ryoga's head whipped around, his aura guttering out. "Really?" he asked hopefully, but his expression darkened, "Why? What have I done to deserve your forgiveness? I wasn't there when you'd have needed my help the most!"

"Ryoga, forgiveness isn't earned, but given freely. I've only improved my skill to read people in jail, and your apology was sincere, you meant what you said! You were really sorry, so much so it's still eating you up inside! That's why you relapsed into using the Shi Shi Hokodan, right? You acted all tough guy to cover it up, am I right?" Ranma asked intently, having had an epiphany.

"I... Yes. Woulda never thought I'd ever say this, but you're right, Ranma. I was an egoistical jerk, and I thank you for forgiving me!" Ryoga said in a tone of heartfelt gratefulness.

"You're welcome. Everything clear between us?" Ranma asked in a light tone.

"Yeah. Now I can go back to hating you in peace," the lost boy retorted with a fanged grin.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Ryoga," Ranma retorted with a soft smile.

"You've forgiven Ryoga. Can't you find it in you to forgive us?" Kasumi pleaded.

"Ranma, may I answer this one?" Ryoga requested.

Ranma, who had been prepared to lay into Kasumi like there was no tomorrow, shrugged, her expression returning to neutral. "Sure, why not? I'd just yell into her face."

Ryoga nodded and turned to the oldest Tendo daughter. "Kasumi, the difference between what you people and I did is that you believed Ranma capable of committing the atrocities from the get go. Why, I cannot presume, and it doesn't matter. Fact is that you did, and that's all that matters.

"I on the other hand convinced myself of it after the fact for known reasons. I was also just a friend, not almost family. That you betrayed him like you did hurt and still hurts a lot more, even if Ranma will never admit it! You can be certain that Ranma will never forgive you!"

"No shit!" Ranma confirmed, her voice unforgiving and cold.

Kasumi teared up and lowered her head, her face burning red with shame. No sound other than sobs escaped her, but Ranma couldn't find it in herself to care, her silent glare daring her to ask for forgiveness.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Ryoga?" Amnar asked into the ensuing silence.

"Damn, it's so weird there's now two of you! Like one wasn't enough," Ryoga sighed mock-theatrically, eliciting twin shouts of mock-outraged "Oi!"

Ryoga smiled at the redheads, then a thoughtful look spread over his face.

"Well, I'll procrastinate for a while, gather what's left of my courage and beg Akari to take me back," he sighed, whispering, "I hope she'll forgive me, idiot that I am," and waving at them after saying "See ya!" the lost boy walked away.

"Take care!" Ranma and Amnar exclaimed in unison and smiled at each other as Ryoga waved one last time.

"What about my baby-daughter!" Soun cried angrily, but Ryoga had already disappeared.

Ranma's head whipped around, her mood doing a one-eighty in an instant. "You're fucking hypocrites! First you wanted an heir produced by Akane and me, then by Ryoga and Akane, then again by me and one of your daughters, and now by Ryoga and Akane again," she growled, her battle aura swirling around her menacingly, "Anything to get an heir, eh? You're scum!"

Agreeing exclamations came from everywhere around, and a thoroughly disgusted Ranma rounded on Kasumi. "Now back to the other Tendo... You were like a big sister to me, and that you betrayed me like that... I can and will never forgive nor forget! From the bottom of my heart, I loath you!"

"And rightly so!" Happosai cut in and held up his hands, "Your dream is it to become a nurse or doctor, isn't it, Kasumi?"

"Y- Yes?" Kasumi asked uncertainly.

"Your lack of empathy and you forsaking Ranma like you did prompted me to... spread the word about your behaviour. It just doesn't do for a nurse or a doctor to be an apathetic backstabber. You will find it exceedingly hard to fulfil your dream in all of Japan, and likely America as well once Ranma's story gets out in its entirety. This is your betrayal's reward," Happosai said evenly, only his coldly glinting eyes betraying his emotions, eyes that remained as glacial as Ranma's when tears started flowing down Kasumi's cheeks.

"B- But Master! You can't-"

"Shut up, Soun! No one tells me what to do aside from those I respect! And you will never have my respect! So carve in like the scaredy cat you are and be silent!" Happosai roared, causing Soun to shut his mouth with an audible click, a defeated look on his face.

"Master, thank you! This is damn fitting punishment!" Ranma exclaimed in dark delight.

"Gladly, dear. As for your other daughters, Soun, Akane can forget her illusions about becoming a martial artist or actor! And Nabiki... She fucked up on her own, but rest assured, she'll never, and I mean never, have enough money to play her games ever again! Wouldn't surprise me if she ended up a penniless drug addict after jail, but then again, do I care?

"You all brought it on yourselves! The reputation you were so proud of, your standing in the community, the dojo... Everything will go up in smoke once this hits the news! You and yours are done for, Soun!" Happosai sneered malevolently.

Tears began to stream down Kasumi's and Soun's faces with the latter quickly going into Waterworks mode, but the despair emanating from the Tendos left those on site cold.

"Live forever more with the knowledge that it was your own behaviour that got you what you deserved! As the Master said, you have no one to blame but yourselves! Enjoy the rest of your lives, not!" Ranma said scathingly.

"Oh my head," a female voice uttered.

"Now isn't that timing," Ranma muttered dryly, her eyes drilling into her pregnant mother's form.

Kasumi and Soun immediately busied themselves with helping the recently awake Nodoka to her feet and Ranma grinned darkly, "We were talking about heirs when dear old 'mom' decided to take a nap, weren't we?"

"Yeah. And know what? I got a theory on why she treated us the way she did! Wanna hear it?" Amnar asked.

"Sure! Let's hear whatcha got!" Ranma retorted.

"I think she used that heavy-handed approach to show who's boss, and she thought you had nothing going for you here, no friends, no home, nothing, so that you'd fold and she would have no trouble bringing you back 'home'," Amnar theorised, making mocking air quotes when saying 'home', "She probably thought she could afford to act like this 'cause she considered you ultimately expendable seeing as she's pregnant. She already has a replacement, two in fact, for what she missed out on in you, sis. And I betcha she thinks it's gonna be two manly sons she's carrying!" she concluded, her tone getting derisive at the end.

"That's makes some wretched kinda sense," Ranma mused nodding to herself, "It'd certainly fit with how dear old 'mom' ticks!"

"So, you wanna tell her or should I?" Amnar queried in a bored tone.

"What?" Nodoka, who had watched the exchange between the two redhead's silently and apprehensively, asked.

"Oh you mean that she's in for a stroke of bad luck 'cause she's gonna have identical twin girls?" Ranma asked in a mocking tone and turned to look at Nodoka, her eyes glittering coldly, "Too bad, 'mom', no boys to spread the genes! I bet she never wanted to know the sexes of the babies as she had convinced herself of the fact that she was gonna have two manly boys! Aww!"

"Yeah, isn't that a stroke of bad luck?" Amnar mused in a mock-sad tone.

"B... But... No!" Nodoka wailed and stroked her belly, "That can't be!"

"But it is! You're going to have lovely twin daughters!" Happosai crowed and cackled, "And you know what's best? I helped Genma ensure it'd be girls! I taught him the technique that turned all his little swimmers into girls-to-be! Isn't it wonderful?"

**'The hell? Happi arranged that as part of the revenge knowing that it would hit her the hardest? He's a frickin' genius!'** Ranma crowed mentally, her grin almost splitting her face.

– _**To just call his tactical prowess impressive would be a gross understatement, –**_ Sym interposed dryly, prompting Ranma, who was watching her mother intently, to nod her head in agreement, **'Happi kicks ass!'**

Nodoka had tears streaming down her face, words of denial coming out of her mouth, and even though Ranma knew that it was morally and ethically questionable to take pleasure in someone else's emotional pain she could not help it. **'She deserves it and more,'** the redhead thought vindictively, **'Besides, it's her own fault if she's hurt by the fact that she's gonna have two healthy daughters! Idiot woman and her psycho ideals!'**

– _**The way she treated you comes back to bite her where the sun does not shine. Poetic justice, is it not? –**_ Sym commented with a grin to her voice.

**'Damn straight!'** Ranma agreed with her facial expression screaming satisfaction.

Genma decided to deliver the final blow. "They're not lying just to torment you. You are carrying very healthy twin girls!"

That and the tone of sincerity it was delivered in had Nodoka tear up even more, and she would likely have sunk to her knees had it not been for her bulk. Thus she was limited to crying her eyes out, muttering, "No, it can't be!" over and over.

"What, if I may ask, is wrong with girls?" Sergeant Chavez asked with dangerously narrowed eyes, "I have two daughters, and I find nothing wrong with being their father! And you, Ranma, aren't you female at least half of the time?"

"I'll answer your questions in order, Sergeant Chavez. This woman, my biological mother Nodoka Saotome, is obsessed with her children behaving manly. This went so far as that she tried to impose her beliefs on manliness on me, even when I was female. Something which she enforced with a suicide pact my father and I had signed when I was five! It stated, in short, be manly or die by sword," Ranma summed up with distaste.

"Is that so?" Chavez cut in softly before Ranma could continue, his tone dangerous.

"Yes," came a chorus of voices consisting of Amnar, Happosai and Genma.

"You too, husband?" Nodoka asked in a hurt tone through her sobs, tears still streaming down her face.

"Yes, me too, 'dear'. You may be carrying my girls, but did you believe I would allow a travesty like what happened to Ranma to repeat itself?" Genma demanded heatedly, "I know I messed up a lot in Ranma's life with my liking to take shortcuts, but so help me Kami-sama, not a second time! I, with help, have taken the necessary steps to prevent this!"

"You dare go against your Clan head?" Nodoka hissed in outrage, her mood doing a complete one-eighty.

"Very interested in hearing your plans later, dad," Ranma almost grinned like a Cheshire cat at seeing a smile virtually bloom on her father's often so stoic face at being called 'dad', "But you shut the fuck up, 'mom', or I'll knock you out again!"

The intense dose of ki having done its job Ranma turned back to Chavez. The police officer held up his hand, indicating he wished to speak. "Regardless of the plans that seem to be in place, what I've just heard is grounds enough for an investigation, Miss. Now hit me with what you've got!"

Ranma smiled bitterly. "Okay, here goes. I assume she doesn't want daughters because they cannot 'sleep around'. Once they're pregnant they can't 'play the field' and have become useless while a boy could impregnate countless girls any time. That's also why she never wanted me to be in female form, I think. A girl can hardly be 'manly' with girls, eh?"

"You sure are a piece of work, aren't you, Mrs Saotome?" Chavez asked, his voice intimidating.

"There can be no doubt about that," Amnar snorted and shook her head, "And the worst is, Ranma can't even help being female half of the time! The magic ensures it!"

"Is that so?" Sergeant Chavez mused thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing as he regarded Nodoka, "And despite that you forced Ranma to act manly at all times instead of trying to help him deal with being the opposite of what he used to be?"

"Of course! I have a manly son, no daughter!" Nodoka retorted defiantly and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

Ranma palmed her face for what seemed like the umpteenth time since the Nerimans had arrived. "She's fucking crazy!"

"You are indeed a case for the psycho docs, Mrs Saotome, that's for sure! Provided the Japanese cooperate, that is," Sergeant Chavez said with a shake of his head.

"Don't worry about that, Sergeant. Justice will be served," Happosai said ominously and blew a ring of smoke into the air.

It seemed the Grandmaster enjoyed the curious and speculative looks, but seeing as nothing more was forthcoming on the Grandmaster's part Sergeant Chavez cleared his throat. "If you say so, sir. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah. It is hard to obtain but not impossibly so for the determined, so Nodoka Saotome should be kept away from any and all Jusenkyo water else she curses my sisters to be boys half of the time! I wouldn't put it past her," Ranma mused and countered Nodoka's glare with one of her own.

Taking a deep breath Ranma stared at the woman who had brought her into this world, a look of disgust and loathing on her face. "As for us, 'mother', we are through! You renounced me, believed the worst of me and threw me into hell on earth instead of helping me, standing by me like a mother should! You never made the effort to get to know me in the first place, all you cared and care about is manliness and grandchildren!

"The way things look you'll never get either, for I so hope they'll declare you unfit to be a parent," she said calmly with the Soul of Ice ensuring said calm. Taking another deep breath she added, "Nodoka Saotome, I hereby renounce you as my mother! I don't know you and will henceforth deny any relation to you ever more. So mote it be!"

The reactions to that declaration were varied. Genma and Happosai were nodding in understanding, the remaining Tendos were looking on in disbelief as they hadn't expected this turn of events. In Nodoka's case all colour seemed to have been drained from her face, but said colour returned with a vengeance ten seconds later. "Fine!" she spat vehemently, "Here I would have graciously welcomed you back into the family and you spit into my face! That's the epitome of unmanliness, and weren't it for the matter that I abide by my word I would declare you unmanly and see the contract through, Ronin!"

A sneer appeared on Ranma's face. "The pregnancy must really addle your brain, _Nodoka_, if you think for a second I'd have gone back to how things were! I'll gladly be Ronin rather than your child, for you can't even admit you made a mistake when you thought the worst of me! You aren't even sorry, you sad excuse for a mother! All you wanted, all you came for here, was to further your own goals! I, your child, never mattered to you outside of what I could do for you, you selfish bitch! You can rot in hell for all I care!

"Oh, and as for your fucking contract, you want unmanly? Meet my boyfriend, Felix Hardy!"

"Boyfriend?" about every Neriman still present downright screamed.

The so christened "Felix Hardy" dropped beside Ranma from up high in a low crouch and righted himself up, giving the Tendos and Nodoka a mocking bow and a cocky smirk. "Felix Hardy, at your service! I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Saotome, but I'd be lying!"

'Felix' then gathered Ranma up in his arms and dropped a scorching kiss on her mouth that screamed passion. Ranma reciprocated all too eagerly and pressed herself into 'Felix's' body, moaning low in her throat. The feeling of sexual tension charged the air as hands began to roam, and the remaining Nerimans sans Happosai and Genma – with both having realised that 'Felix' was none other than Felicia from Ranma's words – were reeling from shock. Ranma was kissing, no, making out with a man of her own volition, and enjoying it!

Amnar shook her head in amusement, a vicious grin appearing on her face when a thought hit her. "Get a room, you two! And bloody hell, I didn't want to be an Aunt just yet!"

Nodoka reacted predictably and paled, then purpled, finally going off on a rant. Amnar just shook her head in amusement and muttered, "Too easy!"

A smile came to Genma's face at seeing his son-turned-daughter and the mysteriously gender-inversed Felicia like this.** 'They're so in love it's palpable! And they're driving Nodoka crazy with this ruse! That's so brilliant it brings a tear to my eyes, it does!**' he thought and pushed his glasses down his nose, absently wiping his eyes.

Nodoka on the other hand was quickly approaching a state of apoplectic rage and sputtered incoherently until she abruptly recomposed herself, her head whipping towards Genma. "Husband, do something to stop this most unmanly display!"

"You know what I'll do, Nodoka?" Genma asked in a seemingly nonchalant tone, his eyes narrowing with resolve, "Nothing!"

"Wha-"

Genma brought his ki to bear and cut off what would likely have been another rant. "You know, my ambition to make Ranma into the best martial artist of his generation blinded me to everything else! To things that should have mattered, like Ranma's health, sanity and happiness! But I was on a mission, and there wasn't a price I wouldn't have paid to pass on my knowledge and skills, all with the fine goal in mind to unite the schools!

"So blinded was I that I accepted your insane stipulations and completely unrealistic expectations! Be a man among men or commit ritual suicide! Hah! And look where it got us!" he roared and shook his head in disgust, "All that matters to me now is Ranma's happiness!" he added and chosing his words carefully so as to add the final nail to Nodoka's coffin he added, "So what do I care if my _daughter_ has a boyfriend as long as she's happy and so obviously in love? She could decide to marry her boyfriend, found a family and be the mother and I wouldn't give a damn as long as she's alive and happy!

"And I can only hope and pray to Kami-sama that she will allow me to be a part of her life despite the many mistakes I have made," Genma concluded, his voice sounding wistful.

Ranma, who had been able to follow the conversation despite the passionate liplock, was brimming with happiness and pride. It wasn't like she planned on doing what her father had listed, but the seriousness and sincerity behind his words warmed her heart. **'I love you too, dad,'** the redhead thought before going back to killing two birds with one stone, that being driving her former mother to new heights of impotent fury and enjoying a passionate make-out session at the same time.

Moaning contently into the kiss and hugging 'Felix' tighter Ranma felt the corners of her mouth quirk up even more, and she idly thought that she would probably need surgery to remove the grin from her face. **'Even if this has all been orchestrated by Happi, I love it when a plan comes together! 'Mom' doesn't know what hit her!'**

– _**I agree. And it is not so much of a plan as a concatenation of fortunate circumstances that led us to where we are. Yet gauging from the look of things Happosai does not seem to be done yet, –**_ Sym commented.

**'I certainly hope he isn't! And I like my version better, Sym. The plan's come together, 'cause Happi rules!'** Ranma thought back and let the fingers of her right hand run through 'Felix's' hair with a look of pleasure on her face that was sure to irk her former mother further, her grin broadening, **'I'm so glad I gave him carte blanch, he's doing an excellent job!'**

– _**Who are you referring to? 'Felix' or Happosai? –**_ Sym asked teasingly.

**'Symmmm!'** Ranma protested, but her annoyance was quickly washed away due to 'Felix's' ministrations.

Nodoka's expression whereas had changed from rage to utter shock and surprise. "Bu-"

"Shut up, Nodoka! I lost all rights to make decisions for Ranma, and so did you!" Genma cut in acidly, "You could've had everything, a son who's a daughter half of the same time, someone of your own gender to pass your knowledge on to, but what did you do? You pressured our child with your insane manliness fantasies! Day in and out! Ranma be manly this, Ranma be manly that! You drove our child away bit by bit, and New York was the final straw!

"Neither of us has any claim to Ranma's life, and I'm ashamed I had any part in making my child's life a living hell!" the balding man said after taking a deep breath, "Not that it'll do any good seeing as your heavy-handedness destroyed everything, but if there's still something left of the woman I married then you'll look inside yourself and see the error of your ways! I can only hope."

"Husband?" Nodoka queried in a suddenly uncertain tone.

Genma was about to say, **'Not for much longer, Nodoka,'** but kept his tongue in check. There were too many pieces that had to fall into place first and one more shock might very well induce premature labour. "You heard me, No-chan. We lost all rights to Ranma."

"In more ways than one," Happosai spoke up and took a long drag from his pipe, "I normally do not involve myself so overtly in another's life, but Ranma is no longer your child!"

-.-

A silence so complete one could have heard a pin drop reigned on the 49th Street in New York City. The first to speak was Ranma who had gently eased herself out of the liplock she had been engaged in with her girlfriend-turned-boyfriend Felicia Hardy. "No longer their child? What do you mean, Master Happosai?"

Happosai took a deep puff from his pipe and blew a ring of smoke into the air. "Perhaps I should amend that. I will have to speak verbosely for you all to understand the background story, but it is up to Sergeant Chavez to decide if he wants to listen to an old man here or in the station."

Sergeant Chavez eyes took a distant expression as he weighed his options. "My team's busy with taking statements and the CSI will be arriving soon, so I'll be tied down here anyway," he finally said, his sharp gaze scrutinising Happosai, "It's also quiet obvious that you're no normal old man from the feats you've demonstrated, and gauging from the President's signature on your entry permits I'd say there's a lot more to you than meets the eye!"

"President? Which President?" Amnar asked, and then her eyes went wide, "You don't mean the President of the United States?" she downright screamed.

Happosai smiled mysteriously, but Sergeant Chavez just nodded, throwing Happosai a side-long glance before looking at Amnar. "None other. The signature's no forgery, that's for sure, and that begets a lot of questions! So go right ahead, sir!"

"If that's your wish, Sergeant," Happosai agreed, his forehead furrowing, "You all will have asked yourselves at one point why the police never interfered in my... activities in Nerima and beyond," he began, getting agreeing exclamations, "What you do not know is that I have used my long life very well! I have built connections to high ranking politicians, economic leaders and other important people. Just an example, the Emperor and Empress and I enjoy tea every Friday afternoon! They all know of my activities, and they all know that it was for one purpose: to find my one true heir! Besides, I always reimbursed the people that had sustained a loss. Or how do you think was it possible for the repairs to be conducted? I was the one compensating for the damages!

"Now don't look so stunned, people! I'm a lot more crafty than you'd have thought, so what? Just so you know, always assume that if there're important people I know them and they owe me a favour! It just so happens I called a few in!"

Ranma shook herself out of her stupor and mouthed, "Damnit! Woulda never thought! What kind of favours did you call in?"

Happosai grinned smugly. "It just so happened that I told Emperor Akihiko and his wife the life story of one Ranma, formerly of the Saotome clan, up to her undeserved fall over a very nice cup of tea. The roles her 'friends' and 'fiancées' played, Genma's role, Nodoka's, Soun's, his daughters. They were not impressed! The Empress was so outraged that she had placed the, and I quote, 'worthless excuse for a mother', under observation!"

Nodoka paled, but glared defiantly at Happosai. "I don't believe you!"

Happosai laughed mockingly. "What you believe or not does not interest me, nor is it me you will be facing! For rest assured, the Kōseirōdōshō will make an example of you! The Emperor and Empress have kept me appraised, and they have enough evidence! More than enough! Add in the investigation that will be conducted by the NYPD and you can bet your ass that you'll never raise children again!"

"Not that she did in the first place!" Ranma huffed coldly and pressed her backside into 'Felix' who encircled her with his arms, holding her close.

"You can rest assured that we will conduct a thorough examination into your background story, Ranma. And we will be working closely with the Japanese ministry!" Sergeant Chavez promised.

"You're speaking nonsense, all of you! I won't believe it!" Nodoka shouted angrily.

"I think we told you before, ex-mom, what you believe is irrelevant! Reality will catch up to you soon enough!" Ranma sneered.

"There's a good chance you're right, Miss," Sergeant Chavez commented, and turning his head to look at two of his officers he bellowed, "Chase! Stendel! Take the rest of 'em without permits into custody and ship the lot of them to the station! On the double!"

Officer Stendel, a tall blond man and Officer Chase, a redheaded woman of athletic build affirmed, and not ten seconds later Nodoka Saotome and Soun Tendo as well as his oldest daughter were being led away.

Ranma couldn't help but mutter, "A bad day for betrayers this fine day is," and snuggled up to 'Felix'.

"Couldn't have happened to finer people," 'Felix' agreed and mused, "To paraphrase your ex-fiancée, let's see if the mud sticks!"

-.-

Revelling in the satisfied feelings the most pleasing turn of events had evoked Ranma turned her head to look at Happosai, "From your smug expression I'd say that was hardly all, Grandmaster!"

"You know me too well, dear!" Happosai mused with a chuckle, "I may have informed the Oval Office of your innocence and you being alive and doing the hero thing as soon as I had proof. They may have agreed to grant you American citizenship. Provided you'd do the right thing and give yourself up to the authorities, that is, which, I believe you've already done," the Grandmaster said casually.

Ranma was, just like everyone else, stunned. "Citizenship for me? Why?"

Happosai looked amused for a few brief moments due to Ranma's reaction but turned serious. "You have that saving people thing going for you, dear. That man you saved a few months back from being shot, the one leaving the limo..."

"Yes?" Ranma prompted.

"That was the Vice President. And he wanted to thank the young heroine who so casually saved him and wiped out the attackers in one go before disappearing personally. I learned of this and was too happy to help him," Happosai answered with a grin, a ring of smoke flying from his mouth, "They kept track of your activities since then, and it was the unanimous decision to welcome you to the United States provided you'd show moral backbone. Which, as said, you did. The only thing you have to do is drop your signature on the paperwork."

Ranma stared at Happosai in open-mouthed shock. "I don't know what to say, Master. Thank you!" she finally exclaimed, and easing out of the hug the redhead flung herself at the Grandmaster and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Happosai seemed to be glowing with energy once Ranma had let go, and a content sigh escaped his lips. "You're welcome, dear. Ahh, that should last me for a decade! Wonder if I'll get another smoochie like this when I tell you what else I managed to arrange?" he mused with a wink.

"There's more?" Amnar uttered, adding, "Damn, you've been busy!"

"Not to be rude, Master, but out with it!" 'Felix' prompted with a grin that extended to his voice.

"Yeah, enquiring minds want to know!" Ranma agreed, and bringing the puppy dog eyes to bear she added, "Pretty please?"

"I could never resist you when you look at me like that!" Happosai laughed and turned serious, "You know the Parkers, right? Peter and Mary Jane."

"Yes," Ranma confirmed and decided to be vague due to the presence of the police officers, "Fine folks. MJ's pregnant with her first child, and I helped them out by teaching them a bit about the Art. We have become friends since."

"Very good. The Parkers have kept you in high regard because of everything you've done for them. And you see, I've taken the liberty to reveal your story to them," Happosai explained and held up his hand, "They have agreed to you becoming their ward!"

-.-

Ranma was startled out of her surprise by a the return of Officer Scott. "Sir, the CSI just arrived and confirmed that Kodachi Kuno is as dead as a doornail! The body's being secured as we speak!"

"Good," Sergeant Chavez nodded and dismissed the female Officer, muttering "One less headache," to himself.

"Speaking of headache, Sergeant, I strongly suggest the body be cremated as soon as possible," Happosai advised in a serious tone.

"Why do you propose this, sir?"

"There's a lot of trouble someone could unleash if they were to find out how the mind control ability of the Kuno girl works. It'd be like opening Pandora's box," Happosai explained, his expression unusually serious.

"I'll take it under advisement," Sergeant Chavez promised equally serious to which the Grandmaster nodded.

"What's gonna happen now?" Ranma asked no one in particular, her expression conveying the uncertainty she felt now that a large part of her revenge had happened.

Sergeant Chavez stroked his chin. "Well, there's going to be a trial for the two of you-"

"If you want to throw us into jail, I'd definitely do it again the exact same way! I wouldn't change a fucking thing!" Ranma cut in and petulantly crossed her arms underneath her breasts.

"Same here!" Amnar agreed as petulantly.

"No one's going to throw either of you into jail. Not if I have a say in it," Chavez retorted seriously, and his facial expression going introspective he added, "You were right, Ranma, I don't like that you seemingly do our jobs, but you had it right, we would have been ill-prepared to fight a villain like Kodachi Kuno. You ladies saved a lot of lives by taking her down. I have to acknowledge that, and I thank you."

Ranma and Amnar exchanged a look that communicated their surprise, and both looked at Sergeant Chavez. "You're welcome! What now?" in unison.

Sergeant Chavez looked surprised for a moment, then he gave a sharp bark of laughter. "Your twin effect will be even more staggering once you hit your own growth spurt, Amnar. As for the further proceedings, I'd like to take you all to the station now so that we can begin to sort the whole mess out. The sooner justice is served, the better!"

Ranma snorted softly, a wry smile playing on her lips. "You won't hear an argument from me. As much as I don't look forward to my next encounter with the juridical system, I'm looking forward to getting my name cleared. To living my life as I want. To being free."

"Hear, hear!" Genma exclaimed loudly with Happosai, Amnar and 'Felix' echoing the sentiment.

The latter hugged Ranma from behind. "If anyone deserves it it's you, dear!" and smiled when the redhead automatically leant into the embrace.

"It's almost too good to be true," Ranma whispered and turned around to face 'Felix', giving him a soft, tender kiss. After half a minute she pulled back and out of the embrace with a bitter-sweet smile of regret, muttering, "Business before pleasure."

"We'll have all the time in the world once you're free, dear. See you soon!" 'Felix' said smilingly; he embraced the redhead one more time and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, whispering, "I love you!"

Ranma's eyes expressed her feelings for all to see, and whispering, "Love you too!" she eased out of the embrace as soon as her love let go of her. Squaring her shoulders Ranma then turned around to face Sergeant Chavez. "Sergeant, I give myself up and lay my fate in the hands of the juridical system of this fine country," she said and folded her hands behind her back, thinking, **'Hopefully round two will go in my favour!'**

Sergeant Chavez' face became a mask of professionalism, and cuffing her he read Ranma her rights just as protocol demanded while his second in command did the same with Amnar. The redheads were then led to a police car, and after Chavez gave the address of the station to Ranma's friends and remaining family the car sped away. Just as Ranma looked out of the window the thought crossed her mind that soon all would be over. And that, she decided, was a good thing.

**To be continued...**

Quick note(s): none this time, just a few comments. First off, some of you will probably wonder about the unusual update date. There's a story behind that. I kinda leaked Chapter 24 of Betrayal's Reward to my yahoo group by accident a few hours ago. The chapter was intended for my beta Wes, but silly me forgot to check the addressee. Oh well, accidents happen. On the plus side, you guys get to read the new chapter today instead of Thursday due to silly ole me. :)

That said, I'm really curious to read what you guys think of the 'rewards' Nodoka, Soun and his daughters reaped. And to clear that one up, I had decided on the punishments ages ago and like to think they are fitting as they hurt a lot. But you guys be the judges of that.

As for Ryoga, dunno, it just felt right to give him a second chance.

On another note, a reader suggested just doing an epilogue and be done with it. Thoughts on that?

Take care, all, and thanks for reading.

**Special thanks to**: seeing as this is unbetaed as of yet there won't be the usual round of thanks for BorgRabbit for having rendered betaing services yet but 'just' to my readers in general. Wes and Sean for suggesting Nabiki's curse and the 'add-ons'. There's probably tons of others silly absent-minded me's forgetting, so let this be the usual shout of 'Kudos!'

**Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s)**:

Hanzo of the Salamander, Tensa-Zangetsu102, mystery person, Dumbledork, firelordeg, Rogue7, StatetWolf, Pryde Kitty, Pyeknu, Jerry Unipeg, Orchamus, marc, Celestial Indigo, Jimbobob5536, Seth O. Blade., Lord Edric, sparky555, New lord of darkness, Maric, Wonderbee31, Sanjiyan, Rune Tobor, James Axelrad, 7 Winds, wolf40k, Crolynx, Dragon Man 180, Choas Babe, Radio Driver, .reads, Rocco13, Ancalador, They call me Bruce, BlackRoseFire, slaaneshgod, PEJP Bengtzone, Speed Reader, DragonCynosure, Meck Viking, Zealot, 666 Kage, Screaming Dean, Danyael Prince, Gump, A fanfiction reader


	25. Closure

**Title: **Betrayal's Reward

**Author name: **Trugeta

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Marvel Comics as well as many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

The story takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma Manga No. 38 and a few months prior to Venom's escape from Ryker's Island during which he spawned the Carnage symbiote. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

**Chapter 25: Closure**

"What happened then?" an adolescent red-haired girl in dark red pyjamas asked intently, her neck craned so that her light-blue eyes could peer up at the older redhead's face.

Ranma smiled fondly at one Enya Felice Parker, her twelve-year old daughter, who was sitting in her lap and brushed a few errant strands of hair out of the younger redhead's face, much to the girl's annoyance as evidenced by her narrowing eyes and pout. The smile intensified due to the amusement caused by her daughter's reactions, but the gaiety was quickly replaced by a solemn look. "I was taken into custody, dear, and about three weeks later my second trial began..."

_The day to prove her innocence had finally come, Ranma thought with a sense of grim satisfaction as she was led into the courtroom and to her seat. Her expression was completely neutral as she let her gaze travel across the court room, briefly coming to rest on her father. Genma gave an encouraging smile and thumbs up which caused her lips to quirk upwards of their own volition, and she gave a nod. Her father had visited her every day in the three weeks she had spent in custody and had made a real effort to be a father instead of a sensei, and with the pressures of having to unite the schools off his shoulders he had treated her... normal. It had been a pleasant change and felt... nice._

_Genma had also been there for her sister and had supported Amnar during her own trial which had drawn to a close just three days ago. Amnar had been cleared of all charges, and Ranma had had Jennifer confirm that her father had stood by his 'other child' through it all as well. It was more than she ever would have dared hope for, but this had shown more than anything that Genma was willing to take responsibility. It hadn't hurt either that her father's name had been cleared thanks to Happosai by explaining that it had all been in the scope of him, the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes, trying to find a worthy heir. Seeing as the crown had been in on it, no harm, no foul._

_Ranma smiled inwardly as she sat down in her chair next to She-Hulk who was in her Jennifer Walters form and clad in a smart black business suit much like her own, the redhead's cool gaze travelling over the other witnesses that had been called in. Her gaze lingered on Genma and then her sister whom she favoured with a smile as well, getting an encouraging smile back, but it turned downright arctic when it happened upon the Tendos including Akane whose own trial would be in two weeks time. _

_All four Tendos steadfastly refused to meet her eyes, and giving an internal disgusted scoff her gaze travelled further, the warmth returning to her eyes when her gaze fell upon a sane looking Tatewaki Kuno. Giving the briefest inclination of her head which the Kuno scion returned Ranma fixed her gaze on the prosecuting attorney, one Richard Gaynes._

_Jennifer Walters nodded encouragingly as if to say 'There's nothing to fear,'. The older woman had told her that the successor of Edward Burke, an attractive raven-haired man with striking features in his mid-forties was a very just man who would do his utmost to see justice served, and this knowledge was indeed comforting to Ranma; Jennifer had also briefed her on the Judge presiding the trial, one David Thomson._

_The man was 1.90 metres tall and very solidly built; some would even go so far to say he was built like a brick-shithouse, only behind his back and on the quiet, of course. Judge Thomson looked incredibly fit for his sixty years of age, and even sitting his posture conveyed alertness that suggested he was practising some kind of martial art. _

_Brown eyes set in a round face peered intently at the crowd, and Ranma had been briefed on the fact that the easy-going and friendly-looking man was a force to be reckoned with when truly riled up. She had been advised to be polite and to stick to the facts, and everything would go over well. _

_Ranma gave a mental sigh; she was expecting a just trial, which was way better than the first time through the judicial system. Her gaze hardened when the thought hit her that soon everything would be over. Ranma's only regret was that Felicia couldn't be here today seeing as she had come down with something that would even take SD a few days to fight off. Peter and MJ were present as well as the Fantastic Four and Matt Murdock, though, their presence offering Ranma additional comfort. She had people to support her this time around, she had friends who would stand by her, and it felt good._

_Richard Gaynes closed a folder he had been browsing through and put it neatly on a stack laying on the wooden table, looked up at the Judge and then at Jennifer Walters who both nodded almost imperceptibly. It was time to see justice carried out. Judge Thomson brought his gravel down, and the room quieted immediately. The trial was about to begin._

_-.-_

_Ranma's face was expressionless as she sat down in the witness stand, and after smoothing out her black slacks and white blouse and tugging an errant strand of hair behind her left ear she looked at Richard Gaynes. She ignored the looks the Tendos were shooting her completely, her demeanour screaming that they were non-existent as far as she was concerned._

_"Your Honour, I'd like to begin the evidentiary hearing," Richard Gaynes said in a smooth voice._

_A serious look appeared on Judge Thomson's friendly face. "Agreed. There is but one preliminary issue, how do you want to be addressed, Ranma Parker?" he asked, peering at Ranma over his half-moon spectacles._

_"According to gender, Your Honour," Ranma answered politely, and added, "As the tests will have shown, I'm female when female and male when male," with a hint of a smile and shrugged, "And due to certain female only issues I will be female for the time being."_

_"Fine by me, Miss Parker," Judge Thomson replied with an inclination of his head._

_"Like that ugly freakshow will ever be a woman!" Nabiki Tendo hissed from her seat, a sneer on her face, "Neither man nor woman you are but an it!"_

_Judge Thomson brought his gravel down with a resounding bang, his brows creased in annoyance. "Control yourself, Miss Nabiki Tendo, or I will find you in contempt of this court!"_

_Ranma, who looked wholly unaffected by Nabiki's hateful outburst cleared her throat. "May I, Your Honour?"_

_A brow cocked in curiosity the Judge nodded and Ranma swivelled her head to look at the sneering Nabiki, her own expression steely. "What you think of me doesn't matter to me, Nabiki Tendo, nor will it ever! I have found my centre, found who I am! If people have a problem with that then it's their problem, not mine! But I will gladly forward your opinion of aquatranssexuals to Herb. I'm certain he will be fascinated by what you have to say!" Ranma said sweetly, her voice and demeanour completely calm._

_"You wouldn't dare!" Nabiki hissed, her eyes narrowed hatefully._

_Ranma peered calmly at the ex-racketeer. "It's just a simple forwarding of information, Tendo. Strictly business, nothing personal, to use a quote of yours!"_

_Nabiki was about to retort when Judge Thomson stopped her cold by bringing his gravel down. "You will only speak when prompted, Miss Nabiki Tendo, or bear the consequences. I hope I have made myself clear!"_

_The middle Tendo daughter nodded grudgingly and bit out, "Yes, Your Honour." _

_"Good. It goes without saying that the same applies to all attendees. I won't tolerate insults or other unsavory behaviour!" Judge Thomson stressed, his face a mask of complete seriousness, and he nodded approvingly when agreeing exclamations came from all attendees. "Mr Gaynes, the floor is yours."_

_Richard Gaynes inclined his head and walked to the front. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I will now do my utmost to ensure that justice is done, well, justice," he said with an irreverent smile at his own wordplay that caused some amusement, but the audience turned completely serious when Mr Gaynes face turned solemn, "And to do so I will have to speak verbosely. Since Miss Parker gave herself up a bit over two weeks ago she has subjected herself to thorough tests, as Dr Richards of the Fantastic Four can attest to."_

_"Indeed I can Mr Gaynes, Your Honour, honoured members of the Jury, Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr Fantastic confirmed from his seat in the first row on the right side. _

_The prosecutor inclined his head, his facial expression still serious. "What can you tell us about your findings, Dr Richards?"_

_Reed got to his feet and assumed a classic lecturer pose. "As you said, Mr Gaynes, a few widely renowned colleagues and I put Miss Parker to the acid test. She agreed to these tests voluntarily, I might add. The tests revealed a lot of things. Chief among them is that Miss Parker is not a mutant. She doesn't have the X-gene, that's scientifically proven fact!" he explained solemnly and held up his hands to quench the murmurs that swept through the courtroom, "What Miss Parker said in the involuntary disclosure of her abilities that made the news not long ago is true, they stem from life-long, dedicated training. She's a homo sapiens just as me or anyone else here. Off the record, I couldn't help but ask myself why her claims weren't investigated at the first trial!"_

_Richard Gaynes nodded grudgingly. "Indeed. I can only apologise that the prosecution didn't do a job as thorough as would've been advised the first time around. It is just speculation at this point, but had you being a mutant been in doubt things might've gone differently, Miss Parker!"_

_Ranma's surprise had only continued to grow during Mr Gaynes statement and she was having a hard time keeping her expression neutral. "Thank you for your honest words, sir. What happened cannot be changed, or rather shouldn't unless one wants to risk catastrophic results... Gah! Reed's rubbing off on me! Sorry."_

_Mr Gaynes' expression was distinctly amused for a moment, as was Jen's and her other friends', Ranma noted. "There's nothing to apologise for, Miss Parker. But you mentioning Dr Richards here brings me to another point. The only anomaly the tests revealed. You live in coexistence with a," the prosecuting attorney creased his brows, "living suit given to you by Dr Richards, correct?"_

_"Yes. 'Given' is a relative term, though. It was a project Reed was working on should the Venom symbiote ever become even more of a problem. The project seemed like a failure due to the fact that the suit refused to bond with any of the Fantastic Four. What no one knew is that it required a host with a shitload of life energy, so guess who the lucky girl was?" Ranma asked with irony thick in her voice. "I had just helped the FF battle a villain, Annihilus, I believe, and a stray blast had shredded my costume including parts of my facemask._

_"Reed said that I had been crucial in distracting Annihilus with my ki-blasts and that that was the reason he invited me into their headquarters. Personally I think that was bull as I was of little to no help, but seeing as I was dead on my feet and hungry enough to eat a horse from the fight I agreed! Reed couldn't help but show me around in their headquarters, and as soon as I entered the lab__,__ Sym, pardon, the suit, jumped me! I was freaked out at first, but we have formed a bond since, and I wouldn't want to be without her. Besides, it so took care of the clothes issue!" _

_Richard Gaynes nodded, a small smile playing on his face. "I already know most of this from the reports, but I would ask you to expound on this for all our sakes, Miss Parker!"_

_Ranma inclined her head, and with a brief look of concentration her clothes reformed into a floor-length strapless black dress that hugged her body like a second skin and showed off her curves and cleavage. The redhead got to her feet and remained standing for a few moments to maximise the impact and took in the reactions of the audience before sitting back down, her clothes changing back to their previous state. _

_Most were surprised, some looked intrigued and a lot of people looked like they were planning to get a suit such as this for themselves. One reaction, though, was neither surprising nor unexpected, and Ranma almost sighed when a red-faced Akane jumped to her feet, the Adamantium chains of her Adamantium shackles clanging loudly._

_"You cross-dressing pervert!" the blunette girl yelled, her expression one of utmost fury, "How dare you wear this!"_

_**'How predictable,'**__ Ranma thought with an internal sigh, but she didn't even have to retort seeing as an angry looking Judge Thomson brought his gravel down with a loud bang. "Control yourself, Miss Tendo! Your prospects are already bleak enough without you being in contempt of this court!"_

_Akane, still red in the face and visibly in a temper, was about to retort when her father grabbed her left forearm with his right hand. "Your temper cost us enough already, daughter! Let it go!" Soun hissed sternly and stared hard at his youngest, his expression firm and unrelenting._

_Surprise flitted across Akane's face and for a few moments it looked like she would listen, but then her brows creased. "But daddy, the pervert's making a mockery out of every woman in the world!"_

_Ranma suppressed a scoff with great difficulty and limited herself to coldly glaring at her former betrothed seeing that her attorney seemed to intend to add her own two cents._

_"May I reply to Miss Tendos' accusation, Your Honour?" Jennifer Walters requested politely._

_"Of course, Miss Walters. Go ahead," Judge Thomson allowed with a nod._

_Jennifer Walters got gracefully to her feet and walked to the front where she faced the spectators, her brown eyes fixating Akane Tendo with a hard look. "Miss Tendo, my client subjected herself to a lot of medical tests to help clear up any 'misunderstandings'," she said calmly, making quotation marks in the appropriate places, "Do you want to know the results of these tests? No? Well, I'll tell you anyway. Ranma Parker is a fully human female when female, just like you and me, and he's a fully human male when male. So let me ask, is Ranma a pervert because she changes genders due to outside factors beyond her control and has accepted that she's both male and female?"_

_Even Soun's hand exerting pressure on Akane's arm couldn't stop her from replying. "Yes! I've had a lot of incontrovertible proof that he's a pervert! And he's no girl, he's a boy, even in female form!"_

_"I for one would like to see proof aside from your claims that it is so, Tendo! And it would've almost been true that I was male even when I was female had you people not seen fit helping to throw me into that hellhole of a prison!" Ranma retorted calmly, her steely and unforgiving glare locked on Akane's angry brown eyes, "Thanks to your efforts I had to come to terms with being both male and female the hard way, and I realised that this was what Kami-sama wanted me to be. It could have broken me, but I refused to be beaten! At first to spite you people, then to prove my innocence! _

_"I was forced to confront my fears, forced to find out who I am! In the end I came to accept myself as I am, male when male and female when female, and in a way I'm glad things happened the way they did, because I would never have come this far had I stayed in Nerima, and with you in particular! I would never have felt this whole! All my female side was to you people was 'unmanly', a 'freak', a 'curse', a 'pervert'! Not so here, and never again!_

_"Excuse me for speaking out of turn, Your Honour," the redhead added respectfully and calmly sat back down._

_"Perfectly understandable and acceptable in this case, Miss Parker," Judge Thomson said mildly, his eyes showing genuine understanding._

_Akane opened her mouth to retort to what Ranma had said, but Jennifer Walters stopped her with a hand gesture. "I advise you to leave well enough alone, Miss Tendo! None of us need hear more of your opinion for the time being, but I'm certain we will revisit your views and how they played into the conviction of my client at a later time!"_

_"Do as she says or you'll shame us even more!" Soun whispered quietly but harshly in his youngest daughter's ear before Akane could say another word._

_Ranma allowed her eyes to twinkle in barely repressed amusement when Akane sat back down with a huff. "I still say therapy would do her good!" the redhead said in a low mutter._

_Amnar smirked unrestrainedly and Jennifer Walters inclined her head with an impassive expression indicating that both had heard her. "Good!" Ranma's defending lawyer said and clapped her hands, "As my colleague said, my client sharing a bond with this living suit is the only anomaly. She's perfectly human, and fully female when female, and male when male, the same as her sister/brother, Amnar. Doctor Stephen Strange vouched for the veracity of her Jusenkyo curse, by the way, as could have anyone in her environment including her own mother, by the way! Now I would like to call upon another witness to prove-"_

_"Your Honour, if I may?" Ranma interrupted and shot the surprised Jennifer an apologetic look, the mention of Nodoka Saotome having sparked a certain impulse in her._

_"Go ahead, Miss Parker," Judge Thomson retorted with a nod, and it was obvious that he was curious where this was going._

_"What I have to say pertains to the living suit I live in coexistence with. You see, Sym, my symbiote would be able to activate latent genes in my DNA to change my looks, and I for my part would like to go ahead. I look too much like my birthmother for my tastes, and to be constantly reminded of the... woman that abandoned me when I'd have needed her the most is something I loath with every fibre of my being!" Ranma explained seriously, her whole demeanour imploring, "I don't ever want to look like this again, and I have the means to accomplish it, Your Honour!"_

_Judge Thomson as well as the room at large looked rather surprised by Ranma's request, and the tall man tilted his head to the side. "What would this entail, and how is that even possible?"_

_"My symbiote once told me that I had latent Caucasian genes in my DNA from my mother's side," Ranma explained and shrugged, "Maybe Mrs Perfectly Traditional Japanese insisted on being so darn traditional 'cause of what can be viewed as tainted ancestry, but I don't care. Fact is, my symbiote can activate said genes, and I would like to do it here and now to send the message that Nodoka Saotome is no longer my mother! I don't ever want to be reminded of her!"_

_Stunned silence followed Ranma's explanation. "Oh my," Kasumi spoke up softly, "I don't think that Auntie-"_

_"I don't care what you think, Tendo!" Ranma interrupted harshly, her eyes drilling into Kasumi until the older woman averted her gaze, and turning her head to Judge Thomson her expression softened, "I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, Your Honour. I should have a better grip on my emotions!" she added and bowed her head._

_"I will overlook it this time, Miss Parker," the Judge said, understanding briefly flashing in his eyes. _

_Ranma inclined her head and nodded in gratitude, a small smile flitting across her face. "Thank you, sir. Dr Richards can vouch that this is something that's only possible due to the symbiotic suit, by the way."_

_"That is correct, Your Honour," Reed spoke up, his voice as serious and firm as his expression, "We already tested this ability and included it in this report," he said and handed out a folder to the Judge, the Jury, Jennifer and Mr Gaynes each._

_Said parties took a moment to browse through the contents, and it was Mr Gaynes who spoke up first. "Am I right to assume that you didn't want to bring this up originally due to the 'intense pain' caused by the shift and that the idea to go through with this came to you spontaneously, Miss Parker?" he asked of Ranma._

_"Yes," the redhead replied earnestly and looked the district attorney right in the eyes, "But being confronted with them," hard blue eyes roamed over the Tendos, "and the mention of my dear ole mom awoke the desire to cut my ties to her and them in more than just a metaphorical way in me. I don't want to be reminded of her and those people in any way or form! Ever!"_

_Judge Thomson regarded the Tendos sternly to quench any form of retort before nodding slowly. "Off the record, given your mutual history I can certainly understand it. And I have nothing against your proposal. Go ahead whenever you want!"_

_Ranma inclined her head in gratitude and allowed a small smile to reach her eyes. "Thanks, Your Honour!" she said and concentrated so as to initiate the shift._

_-.-_

_Round about two minutes later a fundamentally changed and strawberry blonde Ranma was standing in front of an astounded group, and the young gender-changer took a deep breath to gather herself. The corners of her mouth quirked upwards of their own volition as she gazed at the crowd, her clothes reforming a bit to adapt to the changed bodily parameters. Ranma knew she had been beautiful as a woman of Japanese descent before, but her Caucasian form could only be called stunning, and the speechless crowd in front of her was certainly testament to that. _

_Ranma knew that her eyes were still of the same vivid blue as before, but they were set in a face that had undergone several obvious changes. Her jaw, which had been rather pointy before, had squared out, her nose had shortened slightly and become a bit wider, and it was now about a centimetre smaller than before. Her mouth had also altered shape and was now a bit wider as well, and the last alteration rounded everything off as her cheek-bones were just a tad bit higher. All in all she looked like a classic beauty of the highest calibre, and Ranma knew it._

_"Ranma, you're beautiful!" Kasumi whispered almost to herself, her facial expression conveying her surprise._

_Ranma's good spirits evaporated like ice in the sunshine, and her eyes turned into twin chips of ice as she slowly turned her head to regard the oldest Tendo sister. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Tendo!" she hissed in a voice so cold liquid nitrogen would have appeared hot in comparison, "You and yours I'm done with!_

_"Please excuse my outburst, Your Honour, I just can't stand these people!"_

_"Take this one as your freebie seeing as I must assume that it was the pain you must still be in talking!" the Judge remarked, his eyes twinkling slowly, "But now that you have completed your indeed stunning change I would like to proceed. Miss Walters, I believe you wanted to call upon witnesses!"_

_Jennifer nodded, and her eyes twinkled in a way that made Ranma glad that the woman was on her side. "Yes, Your Honour. To erase even the last vestiges of doubt, I would like to call Genma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki to the front!"_

_Ranma's eyes widened when Jennifer mentioned Ryoga's name, and said elation transformed into tentative hope when the door behind the Judge's chair, which apparently led to an adjacent room, opened, and out stepped none other than Ryoga. _

_Akari was there as well and led the tall young man to the front, and Ranma was a tad surprised when the other young woman smiled and winked at her, but quick to adapt as always she returned both. The lost boy threw Ranma a fanged smirk as if to say 'Betcha didn't expect that!' and the redhead smiled back, her own expression conveying the message 'Nope, not in my wildest dreams!'._

_Genma had already assumed his position in front of the spectators, his facial expression impassive, arms crossed across his chest. Ryoga gave Genma a nod which the older man returned, and with Akari letting go of his arm the lost boy took up position next to Genma. The Hibiki youth gave Akari a thankful smile, and both ignored the spiteful and angry looks Akane was shooting them as Akari walked to the unoccupied seat next to Amnar. _

_Ranma stopped short when the two greeted each other like old friends and came to the conclusion that her sister had been in on the fact that Ryoga would - most likely - give a statement in her favour. Shooting them a look that communicated that she would get back at them for doing this behind her back the redhead leant back in her chair and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, waiting for things to come._

_-.-_

_A bailiff entered the courtroom pushing a trolley with six glasses and two large thermos labelled 'warm water' and 'cold water' respectively on it, as well as two large, white towels. Jennifer gave the man a thankful nod as he parked the trolley in front of the men, saying, "Here you go, ma'am."_

_"Thank you," Jennifer replied with a smile and looked at the audience at large, her expression serious, "Ladies and gentlemen, both Genma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki have been tested for the X-gene with both tests having come up negative. Both do not possess super powers granted by some kind of incident either and are as normal as anyone. Aside from one fact!_

_"Like my client, they are martial artists of the highest calibre who have trained all their lives! They have developed abilities most super heroes would envy! All through hard training! But I don't think I have to broach this particular topic seeing as my client inadvertently gave a very thorough demonstration of her skills after she had fought and captured her sister."_

_"Indeed," Judge Thomson agreed and smiled faintly, "The video in conjunction with the test results conveyed impressively just what is possible with training, dedication and determination!"_

_"So it is, Your Honour," Richard Gaynes concurred and wet his lips, "The prosecution agrees that these abilities are purely human!"_

_"Good. Off the record, I have it on good authority that Spider-Man, a student of Ranma's, is teaching the police officers who are free of prejudices and willing to learn how to harness and manipulate their ki so that they stand a better chance at surviving should they become involved in super-human altercations," Jennifer supplied evenly._

_"I had heard rumours about that," Richard Gaynes admitted, his face neutral, "Some people aren't happy about it and say not to trust a vigilante, but off the record, his actions save lives, so I can easily contend with some unhappy folks!"_

_Murmurs swept through the crowd, most of them agreeing, and Ranma couldn't help but add her opinion._

_"If I may, Your Honour," she spoke up and continued upon Judge Thomson's signal to go ahead, "Even if Spider-Man didn't ask my permission to pass on the teachings of the Anything Goes, I wholeheartedly agree with his choice! It gives those that endanger their lives 24/7/365 to serve and protect all of us a better chance at returning safely to their loved ones at the end of the day, and every day one of them survives due to their additional training is a good day! Not to forget the lives they save using their new abilities, either."_

_Respectful silence followed Ranma's words, and the redhead almost felt uncomfortable. "To answer the follow-up question, with Spider-Man being my student he should have asked me as I'm his sensei, and that he went ahead anyway shows how strongly he feels about helping the good guys. Just some food for thought as anything more would lead too far at this point," she almost hurried to add._

_Silence and introspectiveness dominated the courtroom, and it took a few moments until Judge Thomson cleared his throat. "Thank you, Miss Parker," the man said solemnly, "Further elaboration on this topic, as needed as it may be, shall indeed take place at another time. Miss Walters, please proceed."_

_"Yes, Your Honour. Seeing as it is agreed upon that my client is purely human I would like to get to the demonstration of the Jusenkyo curses!" Jennifer stated calmly and picked up the rightmost glass of cold water from the trolley; she then walked over to where Genma and Ryoga were standing. "Mr Saotome, I would like to begin with you if you don't mind."_

_"Go right ahead, Miss Walters," Genma retorted calmly and remained standing impassively._

_Jennifer wasted no time, and a brief apologetic look flashed across her features as she threw the contents of the glass right in Genma's face. The species-change was instantaneous, and where before a tall, big Japanese male in his forties had been standing stood now a giant panda. This time loud exclamations erupted from the spectators, and Judge Thomson had to bang his gravel a few times to re-establish order._

_Genma-panda whereas was cool as a cucumber, his quickly scribbled sign reading, __**# What? You people never seen a panda before? #**_

_Judge Thomson squinted his eyes to read the sign, his expression bewildered. "Can anyone read that sign?"_

_Ranma gave a long-suffering sigh. "Pops and his sloppy handwriting," she muttered with an amused shake of her head, drawing everyone's attention, "He asks if you've never seen a panda before. His attempt at dry humour, I suppose," she mused with a shrug, the twinkling in her eyes conveying she was teasing, "Now he's chastising me for my insolence and asks if anyone got some bamboo."_

_"I take this is my cue, then!" Jennifer said amusedly and used the glass filled with warm water to restore Genma to human form. "Thank you, Mr Saotome. You may return to your seat."_

_Genma towelled himself off with a towel Jennifer had provided and inclined his head before wordlessly making his way back to his seat, his expression stoic even as he walked past the Tendos. "As you can see, Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Honour and district attorney, Mr Saotome is afflicted by the Shonmaoniichuan curse, or in plain English, the panda curse. My, what a crackjaw! Now to Mr Hibiki, who has agreed to help out as well."_

_"But wasn't Mr Hibiki tested and found not to be cursed?" Richard Gaynes inquired, his brows cocked._

_A look of chagrin and self-loathing crossed Ryoga's face. "If I may, Your Honour," he requested, his neck craned to look at Judge Thomson._

_"Go ahead, young man," the old judge allowed._

_"Thank you, sir! It is very hard for me to admit this as it comes back to one of my more honourless acts," Ryoga sighed and paused for a moment to gather himself, "You see, I took Ranma being thrown into jail to mean as a hint of Kami-sama that Akane, Akane Tendo, and I were meant to be. I had had a crush on Akane since forever, and it was one of the main reasons for my... rivalry with Ranma. I always gave him... her... grief for treating Akane badly-"_

_"And he did!" Akane shouted from her seat._

_Ranma didn't even react nor need she have, for Judge Thomson banged his gravel, his expression stony. "One more interruption from you, Miss Akane Tendo, will see your removal from this courtroom with the appropriate punishment included! Consider this your last warning, and I'm only so lenient because you're a foreigner! Have I made myself clear?"_

_"Yes, sir!" Akane replied meekly, her expression downcast; Ranma didn't even have it in her to even feel disgust._

_"Good! Please carry on, Mr Hibiki," the Judge said in a firm voice._

_"Yes, sir. As said, I always rode Ranma for seemingly treating Akane badly, but when I got together with Akane I got to know the other side of the story. To call it not nice would be an understatement!" Ryoga elaborated with a grimace, the look in his dark eyes conveying his deep emotions, "You see, Akane has this special ki-attack that is tied to her anger. She often used it to mallet Ranma-"_

_"Could you repeat that, son? 'Mallet' as in hitting someone with a hammer-like instrument?" Judge Thomson interrupted, both brows having climbed into the hairline in incredulity and the beginnings of anger._

_Ryoga's grimace deepened, and he steadfastly ignored the glares the Tendos were shooting him. "Yes, sir. At the time I thought Ranma deserved it for how he... she... treated Akane, but after I had been on the receiving end of her mallet for nothing at all I learned better! I quickly found that the real Akane didn't measure up to the imagined one I had created in my mind. As soon as Ranma was gone I was treated roughly the same. It was not nice, let me tell you!"_

_Judge Thomson gaze turned introspective for a few moments. "I admit I hadn't given the reports that a 'mallet' had been used in the attack upon Miss Parker much credence, but it seems the memories of this incident should be provided in Miss Akane Tendo's trial. But we digress. Please continue, Mr Hibiki!"_

_"Yes, sir. In the beginning I was so ecstatic when Akane returned my feelings that I all too readily agreed to use waterproof soap so that it seemed I wasn't cursed. Anything to get one over on Ranma the murderer and get in Akane's good graces! Bah, I was so stupid!" Ryoga hissed with self-loathing evident in his voice and looked down at his hands._

_Ranma smiled bitter-sweetly. "Love does make us blind," she whispered so quietly that she didn't disturb the proceedings but loud enough for Ryoga's sharp ears to hear, causing him to smile bitter-sweetly._

_"What is this waterproof soap?" Richard Gaynes asked._

_"It's a product developed by Jusenkyo Instant products and makes the user immune to the changes cold water brings about in Jusenkyo cursed individuals for a time, sir. I got my hands on it once, but it wore off very quickly so wasn't very good. But it was good enough to shoot Ranma's claims to hell!" Ryoga explained, his face going red with shame at the last admission._

_"It's okay, Ryoga, I have forgiven you," Ranma said earnestly in a quiet voice._

_"Thank you, Ranma. It's more than I deserve!" Ryoga replied with a solemn smile, his face going serious, "Now please, let's get this over with!"_

_"Your Honour, the defence takes a pass on pressing charges against Mr Hibiki for helping to implicate my client," Jennifer said firmly and reached for another glass of cold water which she gripped firmly with her right hand._

_"The prosecution agrees, Your Honour. It seems Mr Hibiki has learned his lesson. Anything more we would enact would be superfluous," the prosecutor declared._

_"Then it is agreed upon and so noted down," the Judge agreed with a nod and waved his hand at Jennifer, "Please proceed, Miss Walters."_

_"Your Honour," Ranma interrupted in a quiet voice, "Not to mean disrespect, but is the modesty issue covered?" she asked and blushed, "Err, Ryoga loses all of his clothes when he changes species."_

_Several females around the courtroom blushed as red as Ranma had, but Ryoga didn't and even smiled faintly, much to Ranma's surprise. "This issue has been covered, Miss Parker," Judge Thomson replied with an undertone of amusement, "I believe your clone-"_

_"Sister," Ranma interrupted quietly but strongly, "No disrespect intended, sir."_

_"Pardon?" the Judge inquired confusedly._

_"Amnar's much more than my clone. I was the template, yeah, but she has her own abilities and powers and is her own person. She's my sister when a woman, my brother when a man," Ranma elaborated with a look of conviction on her face, and a smile flitted across her face at seeing Amnar's brilliant smile._

_"Thank you for correcting me, Miss Parker," Judge Thomson said, his tone earnest._

_"Gladly, sir, it's just something I feel very strongly about, and I felt that I needed to point it out!" Ranma replied with an easy smile._

_Judge Thomson nodded and a faint smile briefly appeared on her face. "I had noticed," he said dryly, "Anyway, your sister saw fit to contact Dr Richards and secured his help in creating clothes for Mr Hibiki that are, wait a moment, I wrote it down," he paused to produce a slip of paper, "ah yes, 'dimensionally shifted so that they will remanifest upon triggering the trans-species change'."_

_Ranma shared in on the prevalent amusement and giggled. "That's pure Reed!" she exclaimed, causing Mr Fantastic to smile sheepishly and rub the back of his head while his wife and team mates took to tease the genius._

_"Yeah, it is," Jennifer agreed with a smile, "But I'd say we have kept everyone on tenterhooks long enough!" she exclaimed, and threw the contents of the glass right in Ryoga's face._

_The species-change was almost instantaneous, and a lot of people got up from their seats to look upon the small black piglet standing in Ryoga's place. "As you can see, Mr Hibiki is a victim of the Heituenniichuan spring which gave him the pig curse. As with Mr Saotome, any time he comes in contact with cold fluids the change is triggered," Jennifer explained and paused a few seconds to let this sink in before changing Ryoga – who restransformed fully clothed, as advertised – back, and added, "Too bad we couldn't procure waterproof soap, or we would be a le to offer more practical proof!"_

_Jennifer had just said this when the door opened, and all eyes were on the newcomer, or rather newcomers. A tall, silver-haired man followed a diminutive, ancient-looking man into the room, the old man's large eyes glittering amusedly. "Ask and ye shall receive, Miss Walters!" _

_"Happosai? Fe...lix?" Ranma asked incredulously, her eyes wide as she looked at the smug looking Grandmaster and her softly smiling gender-inverted beloved._

_"You know these men, Miss Parker?" Judge Thomson asked before his eyes lit up and he nodded to himself, "Ah yes, I remember! You must be the Grandmaster of the style Miss Parker practises! What I have read of your exploits has been most interesting, Mr Happosai!"_

_Happosai bowed, an easy smile on his face. "I like to keep things interesting, Your Honour! Does keep us young. And it's just Happosai, sir."_

_"As you wish, Happosai," the Judge agreed with an inclination of his head, and his glance wandered to 'Felix', "And who are you, young man?"_

_'Felix' smiled disarmingly. "I'm Felix Hardy, and I'm Ranma's boyfriend!"_

_Just Soun Tendo utilising some of the knowledge he had apparently acquired in the Art of pressure points prevented Akane from digging herself beyond the point of no return, Ranma noted absently. Her mind was going a mile a minute as to how it was possible that Felicia was male, but no answer was forthcoming. Which left her with but one option, to kick back and find out._

_"Actually, that's just half the truth, Your Honour," Happosai spoke up, his grin mischievous, "Felix, show them!"_

_'Felix' nodded and a look of concentration briefly appeared on his face, and then the woman known as Felicia Hardy stood in 'Felix's' place. "I'm actually Felicia Hardy, Your Honour, but I love Ranma so much that I cursed myself with the opposite curse of Ranma's and got Dr Strange's help to change at will like her so that we can always be a couple!" she explained and smiled brightly._

_Her explanation caused a wide variety of reactions, but the most prevalent was astonished acceptance. "I... see," Judge Thomson said and polished his glasses, pausing briefly to massage his temples before an amused smile appeared on his face, "Well, it isn't any stranger than what other magic users get up to, or so I've heard. Now you said you brought this so called waterproof soap?"_

_Happosai nodded and produced a bar of soap from seemingly nowhere. "So it is, Your Honour. If I may be so bold as to suggest Mr Hibiki use the facilities to lather down? A bailiff could accompany him to ensure that he uses nothing but the soap!"_

_"Excellent suggestion. We will take a fifteen minute break before we reconvene!" Judge Thomson declared and banged his gravel._

_-.-_

_Had someone asked Ranma later on what was going on around her she wouldn't have been able to answer. Her mind was blank and her body moved on autopilot as she walked towards Felicia, who, as soon as she caught sight of her grinned like the cat that ate the canary and promptly shifted to male._

_Giving up all pretence of composure Ranma downright flew into Felix' arms who hugged her to his chest with a laugh. The redhead didn't even feel ashamed as she snuggled up to him, basking in the happiness his presence brought. _

_Finally opening her eyes Ranma craned her neck a bit to look into his eyes, a mischievous smile dancing in her eyes. "I'd ask if you're happy to see me, but the answer's all too obvious, dear!" she teased, eliciting a sheepish grin on her lover's part._

_"I am more than happy to see you, hon! And before you go and rip me a new one for what I did, I did it because I love you more than words can say. I want to be with you, forever! What better way to be a couple at all times than this?" the gender-inversed Felicia asked smilingly; a solemn look replaced the gaiety, and he dropped to one knee in front of Ranma. "Ranma, I love you more than life itself, and I've never been so sure of something before," he almost whispered, and a lance of ice briefly forming in her gut Ranma was very certain where this was headed, "Ranma," he continued, and produced a quadratic box which he opened, producing an elegantly simple ring made of white gold, "Will you marry me?"_

_Logic was thrown out the window and hit by a speeding truck driven by emotion, and almost shouting due to overflowing happiness Ranma exclaimed, "Yes!" and flung herself around Felix' neck._

_Felix slung his arms around Ranma's mid-section and held her tenderly, his smile almost splitting his face. "I'm glad, so very glad!" he whispered and simply held Ranma._

_"I can hardly believe Ranma accepted a marriage proposal, and from a man to boot!" Amnar jibed teasingly, but her facial expression conveyed that she was happy for her sister; a smiling sister who had turned her head and stuck out her tongue at Amnar, her eyes twinkling as she simply snuggled into her fiancé, "But if anyone deserves happiness it's Ranma!"_

_"True, dear. And never forget, fiction can be strange, reality even stranger!" Happosai mused sagely to which Amnar nodded empathically, "Way to go, Felix! You bagged a real hottie!" the Grandmaster then whooped happily._

_"Don't I know it!" the gender-inversed Hardy agreed smiling like a loon and eased out of the embrace to place the ring on Ranma's ring finger, the redhead glowing with happiness, before slipping on his own, commenting, "Reed made these for us, they resize themselves according to our gender._

_"He's also one of the ones responsible for me being like this, but I'll explain later. Sorry for deceiving you, but you seem to like the result!" he added in a whisper._

_Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment as she did a bit of soul searching, and tilting her head to the left she nodded slowly. "Strangely enough, I do! Now we complete and complement each other even more. And we should really do something nice for Reed. He's more than earned it!" Ranma mused, then smiled widely, "Now kiss me, hon!"_

_Felix needn't be told twice and drew Ranma in for a passionate kiss that lasted half a minute. The love the couple felt for each other was palpable and most of anyone still present – with over three quarters having filed out including the Judge and prosecutor – were happy for them, with a few notable exceptions._

_"Figures a pervert like you would get together with another pervert, Ranma!" Akane exclaimed spitefully from where she was shackled to her seat, her face set in an ugly sneer, "I bet you'll enjoy being the bride, you crossdresser!"_

_Ranma sighed and eased herself out of the loving embrace she had shared with her fiancé and turned around to face Akane. "I admire your restraint, Tendo. You actually let us finish before opening that mouth of yours! Or was it the obviously inept use of pressure points on your father's part that kept you silent till now? But you know what? I'm in too much of a good mood to care about the insults of a bigoted, perpetually angry, sexually insecure prude that used to be an important person in my life! But continue to slander and insult me and I'll sue you to Kingdom Come! And as you know, I seldom lose! Now kindly keep your immature opinions to yourself!"_

_Her part said Ranma snuggled back into her fiancé, and she had to suppress a smirk when she heard Amnar say, "Don't you dare open that claptrap of yours, Tendo! My sis is way too soft to say it outright, but I don't have her restraint so I'll be blunt: shut the fuck up or you'll be eating through a straw for a year! And I guarantee ya, ya won't have any trouble breathin' through your ass once I'm through with ya!" the smaller redhead hissed, and Ranma knew from the power surge she was feeling that Amnar had drawn on her powers and meant business._

_Ranma craned her neck to observe Akane's reaction, and she was amused to see that the girl had paled and had indeed shut her mouth. To the redhead's intense displeasure Nabiki had not received the message – or rather chose to ignore it – and could apparently not leave well enough alone. "I find it... careless to make such claims in front of so many witnesses, clone. Goes to show that the apparently far less than genius intellect of Ranma degraded even further upon cloning! But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and will happily sue you!"_

_"I think the term you're looking for is accomplices, not witnesses, Nabiki-chan!" Amnar retorted silkily, her eyes glittering coldly, "Or did you forget that the Tendos' standing isn't that high to begin with after what you guys pulled? So why should anyone from those few that are still here come forward for you?"_

_"You little-"_

_"Young Miss, you're either incredibly brave or stupid to piss off not one, but several of the world's best martial artists!" a man wearing dark glasses spoke up before things had a chance to go really south, "And I'm sorry to steal your thunder, but your chances at suing Miss Amnar are non-existent!"_

_"And who asked you?" Nabiki sneered derisively._

_"I am Matt Murdock, lawyer, at your service," the man retorted and gave a mock bow, "And let me tell you, it is unwise and immature to lash out at everyone just because your side got the short end of the stick."_

_"What would you know! This pervert destroyed my life!" Nabiki hissed hatefully._

_Ranma turned around to face the ex-mercenary, and her expression could have been cast from iron. "Wrong! Your choices led you to where you're now, Tendo! I had no hand in your illegal deals and Kami-sama knows what else you had going that dragged you down in the end! I'm not your scapegoat nor anyone else's, so grow up!"_

_"Mark my words, I'll find a way to destroy you, Ranma!" the middle Tendo daughter retorted with insane loathing colouring her voice._

_"You may try, Tendo, you may try! But this time around I have friends and loved ones," Ranma's gaze swept over Genma, Happosai and the super heroes and squeezed Felix' hands, smiling fondly, "to stand by my side. Try something, anything, and we'll come down on you with the full weight of what's within the laws!"_

_Happosai had begun a casual stroll through the rows as soon as Nabiki had entered the exchange and made her intent clear. His course of action decided he faded from sight almost unnoticed, and it so happened that the row behind the Tendos was empty seeing as its occupants had used the break to do God knows what outside. _

_Cloaked by his own invisibility technique Happosai sneaked until he was directly behind Nabiki, and making full use of the fact that the girl was standing at the edge of her seat he phased back into sight. His hand blurred and seemingly disappeared, and not a few seconds later Nabiki yelped in pain and began to rub her lower back._

_Ranma and Amnar exchanged a significant look just as Nabiki turned her head around, her face sporting a look of confusion, pain and anger, her brown eyes locking on Happosai's own coldly glinting brown eyes._

_"Why, hello Nabiki-chan!" the Grandmaster sneered with a smirk that could only be called devilish, "I hope you like my present, I put so much thought into it!"_

_"Now she's in for it!" Felix remarked and pulled Ranma close, softly resting his chin on her head._

_"Yep!" Ranma retorted simply, a smile of contentment on her face._

_"What have you done?" the ex-mercenary demanded, her eyes narrowing in the beginnings of anger._

_"Yeah, what did you do to my sister, you old pervert?" Akane demanded angrily._

_Happosai turned his head an unleashed a focussed burst of ki at the blunette. "I'm not in the mood to listen to you wasting air, girl! Sit down, shut up and realise how far out of your league you truly are or bare the consequences!" he hissed so malevolently that Akane blanched and stumbled backwards, Happosai's darkly glinting eyes conveying how annoyed he was._

_"Oh my, is that really necessary, grandfather Happosai?" Kasumi asked softly, her eyes as wide as she could make them to create the puppy dog eyes effect._

_Happosai slowly turned his head, his eyes flashing red as he regarded the oldest Tendo sister. "Cut the crap, girl! The time I allowed myself to be affected by you has long since passed, and if you and your little brat of a sister don't want a neat little present like dear Nabiki-chan just got you will sit down!" he exclaimed, barking the last four words with his ki backing his voice._

_Akane and Kasumi had gone deathly pale during Happosai's outburst and had apparently realised that the old Grandmaster meant business and that the kid's gloves were off. Nodding meekly they turned around without meeting anyone's eyes and sat back down, visibly shaken._

_"They're getting a clue by four, sis!" Ranma commented idly with a satisfied gleam in her eyes, "They finally realise how much their good lives hinged upon Happi's good will and me shielding them from harm!"_

_"About time with how high and mighty Nabiki's still acting!" Amnar commented with a distasteful expression on her face, "And I must say, I'm really curious what Happi did to dear ole Nabiki!"_

_"Me too! I hope it's something that teaches her to keep her nose out of other people's lives and money!" Ranma remarked and shook her head, "One can only hope!"_

_"Hear, hear!" Felix commented and kissed the crown of Ranma's hair._

_"Good decision, girls!" Happosai had sneered in the meantime and turned his head, and if possible, his gaze turned even more arctic. "You see, Nabiki, I've had to realise to my dismay and disappointment that you're hard of learning and can't leave well enough alone! There's no doubt in my mind that you'd have gone out of your way to try and cause dear Ranma-chan grief!"_

_Nabiki's expression confirmed this all too clearly, causing Happosai to nod, his eyes hard. "Well, we can't have that. After all, I know what you put Ranma through during her time in Nerima, and I allowed it to happen in hopes that she would, to be blunt, tire of your escapades and put you in your place! But alas, way too soft she was before you Tendos and that woman that brought Ranma into this world threw her to the dogs! _

_"A hard lesson she learned in prison, and I sometimes wish I could make it undone, but she grew as a person and everything worked out in the end," he said and involuntarily smiled at the look on Ranma's face, the look of someone who had survived, who hadn't broken and was still full of life, "And she finally got you people out of her hair! Before all of this shitstorm was unleashed you all wanted Ranma to fulfil your dreams and desires for you regardless of what she wanted in life! Not so any more, and never again! Ranma has finally come into her own, she's my heir and those who dare interfere will be crushed!"_

_"And what will you do to stop me from pulling strings?" Nabiki retorted in a haughty voice._

_"Nabiki, don't!" a wide-eyed Soun hissed urgently._

_Nabiki held up her hand, a challenging expression on her face. "No, dad! I want to know why he thinks he can order me around!"_

_"Remember the brief searing pain you felt a few moments ago? The one in your lower back?" Happosai asked with a sinister expression that grew even more wicked upon Nabiki's nod, "That was me applying the Seal of Misfortune to you, dear Nabiki-chan!" he exclaimed gleefully and cackled for a few seconds._

_"So?" Nabiki asked, her expression showing she was unimpressed._

_"Oh my, that doesn't sound good!" Kasumi had whispered at the same time with Akane nodding in silent agreement._

_"Your sisters seem to have realised the implications of my actions, girl. What did you just say about Amnar's intelligence? Maybe you should have yours checked instead!" Happosai taunted in dark amusement._

_"What did you just do, sir?" a guard who had apparently listened in asked Happosai who countered Nabiki's glare with a bemused look._

_"I just applied a seal to my dear student's back. Seeing that it didn't cause her any physical harm I'm pretty certain I didn't break any laws!" the Grandmaster retorted calmly and noted with satisfaction that Soun had gone deathly pale at the mention of the word 'seal'._

_"I'll be the judge of this, sir!" the man said sternly and walked closer, prompting Happosai to step aside with an inclination of his head. "Please lift the hem of your blouse and show me your back, Miss Tendo!"_

_It was testament to how her stay in jail had affected Nabiki that she didn't even demand a fee for showing off her body and did as asked. Coincidentally Nabiki's backside was in Ranma's and Amnar's line of sight, and the taller redhead chuckled. "An inverse smiley. How... simplistic!"_

_"She's in for a heap of shit, sis!" Amnar whispered in Ranma's ear, causing the taller redhead to nod in a very satisfied way, whispering back, "Oh yes, she made Happi get creative, and little to nothing's more dangerous than that!"_

_"Amen to that!" Amnar whispered back, and the redheads returned to watching the drama unfold, both shooting Happosai a smile._

_The old Grandmaster returned the smile and immediately refocused his attention on the guard who was still studying the seal. "I have no choice but to agree with you. No criminal laws were violated, nor was any magic used. It looks like a plain tattoo to me, but Miss Tendo may feel free to press charges against you for applying said tattoo against her will. Now feel free to carry on, sir!" he said and turned to walk away._

_"Thank you, officer," Happosai said good-naturedly and turned his head to look at Nabiki, tsked and shook his head a few times, his expression smug and suddenly sinister. "You know about the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion, and you probably heard about the other aces I pulled out of my sleeves on many occasions, Nabiki! And here you think my actions just now wouldn't have grave and dire consequences for you? Here's a hint, this seal is one of a kind, and you should feel honoured that you're its victim! Or horrified, I really don't care which!"_

_"Personally, I'd probably choose horrified gauging from the sound of it!" Amnar said conversationally with Ranma and Felix nodding empathically._

_"What does it do?" a paling Nabiki asked who obviously began to realise that this was no joking matter._

_"Oh, not so tough and confident any more, are we?" Happosai retorted tauntingly and grinned evilly, "Why, this little product of a long lost and forgotten Art causes everything you do to misfire in the worst possible way! Make yourself a coffee and it won't be drinkable. Write an essay or who cares what and you fail. Try to pull one over on dear Ranma-chan and you fail. Try to get your dirty work done through someone else and it backfires as well. Isn't that neat?"_

_Nabiki's pale and shocked visage stood in stark contrast to Happosai's that conveyed satisfaction and more than just a hint of smugness. "I... I don't believe you!"_

_"You should know me well enough to know that I don't care about what you think, girl! Your life will turn into a train wreck soon enough! I have found my heirs who will soon enough have offspring of their own as well, I like them, they're incredibly talented and we get along splendidly! I have no need to even tolerate you anymore," Happosai retorted calmly as if talking about the weather, and seeing with satisfaction that the ex-mercenary seemed to be close to fainting he swivelled his head to regard a paling Soun, "Your usefulness to me has expired, Soun! I don't need you and yours any longer, especially seeing as I will be teaching Ranma and Felicia the complete Anything Goes style personally! _

_"You have no one but yourself to blame for how things turned out, Soun! Had you been a better father and sensei and an honourable man instead of a spineless coward things might have gone a whole lot different! But you and your daughters made your bed, now you've got to lie in it!_

_"And a last friendly word of advise: interfere with me and mine all you want, but do so on danger of crippling retaliation that will see you and yours utterly ruined!" he said softly but in a voice so dangerous it easily communicated the Grandmaster's utter seriousness._

_"Now that's what I call laying down the law!" Felix said, his tone of voice conveying his ill-concealed glee._

_"Hell yeah! They've so gone to pieces it ain't even funny! On second thought, it's hilarious!" Amnar remarked and grinned a grin any shark would have been proud of._

_"What goes around comes around and all that," Ranma said satisfied and pressed herself more into her fiancé, her grin a bit more restrained but still reminiscent of the cat that ate the canary._

_A pallid and shaking Soun could only draw a shaky breath, and laying an arm around his second-youngest' shoulders he pulled the unresisting Nabiki away. "I- I understand, m- master! N- Now c- come, daughters, s- some fresh air will do u- us good!" he all but whispered in a shaky tone of voice. _

_All strength seemed to have been sapped out of Nabiki who didn't even seem to have the energy to glare at either Ranma, Amnar or Happosai as she was led out of the room by Soun. Kasumi shot the trio an uncertain look, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes before she turned her head and tended to her middle sister. Akane whereas stopped and turned around fully, but before the young woman could do more than glare and open her mouth Soun grabbed her left arm hard and turned her around so that they were face to face._

_"Don't even think about it, Akane! I know the Master much better than you do, he will follow through on his promise! I won't have you give him an excuse to destroy not just you but all of us, so shut up and obey!" the Tendo patriarch hissed intently._

_Akane was visibly stunned by her father's vehemence and the anger he was projecting and nodded meekly. Soun nodded satisfied and turned around without missing a beat, and without looking back once the Tendos left the courtroom._

_"Now that went well," Matt Murdock commented bemusedly._

_"I agree, couldn't have gone any better!" Ranma remarked with a satisfied smile, her hands intertwining with Felix' hands that were resting on her hips._

_-.-_

_Ranma and Amnar exchanged a look after the Tendos had left, and the taller redhead could see in Amnar's eyes that the other girl was thinking the same, that had been one hell of a pre-emptive strike! It had been executed flawlessly too, especially with that bout of psychological warfare thrown in at the end, namely the promise to destroy the Tendos if they stepped a toe out of line. _

_The effects of Happosai's actions would be devastating for Nabiki in particular, and it was doubtful she would ever fully recover. Add to that that the credibility of the Tendo Dojo had been further shot to hell by implicating Soun Tendo as an inept father and sensei and the blow to the Tendos could only be called crippling._

_That was fine with Ranma, though, and she smiled, turning around and snuggling into Felix. An annoyance and potential threat had been dealt with, hopefully for good, and that was good in her book. She could tell from the way her fiancé – how strange! She didn't have the urge to run for the hills for the first time, being affianced and all – hugged her closer and drew circles on her back with one of his hands that he was in a good mood too. _

_Ranma quickly relaxed her facial muscles to paste a neutral look on her face when more and more people began to file back into the room. After all, it wasn't advisable to gloat over someone else's misfortune if your character was still subject to the Jury's scrutiny. _

_Amnar who had a mind almost identical to hers was wearing a similar expression, but they almost couldn't keep up the facades when Ryoga came back into the room through a side door – led by an incredulous and exasperated looking bailiff who had likely made first-hand experience with just how directionally challenged the lost boy really was – and looked puzzled because of the solemn mood dominating the room. _

_"Hey, did someone die or something?" Ryoga asked as soon as he had walked up to Ranma and Felix with the assistance of the bailiff, his face scrunched up, "And where are the Tendos at?"_

_"Both events are closely linked, Ryoga," Ranma spoke up and she somehow managed to relax her face muscles to produce a solemn look, "Nabiki threatened me and promised to find a way to ruin me for what happened to her, and Master Happosai took objection to it. He branded her with the 'Seal of Misfortune', which is apparently an ancient technique that somehow ensures that anything and everything the victim does goes wrong like you wouldn't believe!"_

_Happosai cackled evilly. "To quote you, Hibiki, I made her life hell!"_

_Ryoga took a few moments to digest this and shuddered when the full implications hit him. "Whoa! Colour me relieved that it wasn't me that it happened to! The Weakness Moxibustion was bad enough, but this sounds infinitely worse!" he exclaimed, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face, "And what if she tried to get her revenge by using proxies?"_

_"All taken care of, m'boy, as I'm sure dear Nabiki-chan will inevitably find out," Happosai said calmly and with a sad face, "Isn't it too sad to see someone so young so consumed by misdirected hatred?" with a deep frown on his face._

_Ranma barely resisted the urge to break down in paroxysms of laughter at Happosai's performance and separated from Felix with a sigh. "Yeah, to be so driven by greed and hate, so consumed by misdirected anger would've led her down a dark path," she explained and managed to keep her expression sad, "I wonder if your intervention will show her what she's become."_

_"How's she supposed to learn when she's the butt-end of Murphy's law till she dies? Unless..." Ryoga trailed off, his face showing a contemplative expression, "There's something like an escape clause, right?"_

_"Why, yes," Happosai affirmed with a smug smile, "There is. But seeing as Nabiki didn't ask I didn't feel obliged to tell her. Getting rid of the seal is simple yet incredibly hard at the same time: she must genuinely repent and change her life! That's all."_

_"And as long as she doesn't everything she does will go horribly wrong," Amnar mused thoughtfully and put her left index finger to her mouth, "She'll have to depend fully on others from now on, won't she?"_

_"Seeing as she won't even be able to make herself a cuppa coffee I'd say Kasumi's gonna have her hands full! And given how Nabiki ticks for years to come," Ranma mused and tilted her head, "It seems the self-sacrificing Kasumi Tendo will have to sacrifice more of her life, yet, once dear Nabiki's through with whatever her punishment's going to be!"_

_"Serves Kasumi right for not having been there for you when you'd have needed it the most! She was always a voice of reason, hadn't she chickened out and taken the easy way out she might've been able to convince her sisters to look underneath the underneath!" Amnar ground out and shook her head, "Who knows, things might've gone a whole lot differently. But it is as it is, and knowing myself I'd say you'd hardly want to change a thing given the outcome!"_

_Ranma thought for a few seconds and nodded. "I got rid of the Tendos and my nutzoid mother, I have a somewhat normal life that's my own and found the love of my life," she said with a genuine smile and leaned back into Felix who snaked his arms around her midriff and pulled her close, causing Ranma's smile to widen while becoming more content, "I have friends, found that I have a father who's more than just a sensei and my name's gonna be cleared soon. The time in Ryker's was hell, yes, but you're right, sis, it was worth it in the end!" _

_Happosai smiled. "Good things come to those who wait and persevere," he mused sagely and tilted his head, "I wonder if Nabiki-chan will persevere long enough to learn her lesson."_

_"That seal's gotta be hell!" Ryoga exclaimed, and looking thoughtful he added, "Especially for a maniac control freak like her!"_

_"That's for sure! Even though I don't know Nabiki Tendo that well it's quite clear that this should indeed be hell for her!" Felix spoke up, his voice filled with conviction._

_"You got that right, buddy! Say, what's that on your and Ranma's fingers?" Ryoga queried after looking from Felix to Ranma, "And why are you," he nodded his head at Felix, "holding her so close without her bashing you into next week? Who are you?"_

_Ranma smiled impishly. "What do you think this is?" she asked and tilted her head, holding up her ring finger, "A ring, ya big dummy!"_

_"I know that, Ranma!" Ryoga retorted sharply, exasperation plainly showing on his face, "Does that-"_

_"Mean what you think it does?" Ranma cut in and nodded, her eyes gleaming, "Yes, it does. This is Felix Hardy, my boyfriend and now fiancé," she said and held up her hands to forestall any comments, "But at the same time he's also Felicia Hardy," right on cue Felix changed into Felicia, "my girlfriend and fiancée!"_

_"Felicia Hardy, at your service," the former cat-burglar twittered with a curtsy, an impish smile on her face, "Sorry for breaking your jaw back then, but you deserved it at the time!"_

_"Wha- pooh!" Ryoga retorted intelligibly as he was all too obviously at a loss for words._

_"I think we broke him, hon," Felicia observed dryly, her chin resting on Ranma's left shoulder from where she observed the gobsmacked Ryoga in visible amusement._

_"Nah, Ryoga always bounces back, trust me," Ranma replied with conviction, and smiled when the lost boy came to his senses moments later, "See? Nerima toughened him up! _

_"Ryoga, I have finally found the happiness I thought forever destroyed. And much if not all of it is thanks to Felicia. I'm so in love with her, him too, I can't put it in words! She's everything Akane never was and I hope Akari's for you."_

_"Wow, Ranma... I don't know what to say, except congratulations! I'm happy for you," Ryoga said seriously, everything about him conveying that he meant it._

_"Thank you, buddy! I never would've thought to hear you say that, and it means a lot!" Ranma retorted softly, a small smile playing on her face._

_Felicia changed back to male, slung his arms around Ranma from behind and smiled. "Yeah, thank you. Akari and you are invited to the wedding, of course!"_

_"Thanks, we'll be there!" Ryoga assured them and chuckled softly, smiling a fanged grin, "But which one of you's gonna wear the dress?" he asked teasingly._

_Ranma blushed and playfully swatted Ryoga's arm. "Meanie!" she muttered even as Felix and Ryoga laughed._

_Before any more could be said the door adjacent to the Judge's chair opened and Judge Thomson stepped out, his expression carefully neutral. Ranma could hear an acoustic notifier going off in the hallway probably announcing that break was over, and sure enough the remainder of the spectators began to file back into the room. When everyone had retaken their seats the Judge banged his gravel, drawing everyone's attention._

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, honoured members of the jury, I have just been notified of a tragic injury suffered by Miss Nabiki Tendo that begets that we won't be able to hear her statement. She fell down a flight of chairs after slipping on a banana peel and broke her right leg, arm and shoulder, all in multiple places," he explained with a grave expression._

_The spectators dutifully showed their – however faked it may have been – sympathy, prompting Judge Thomson to wave his right hand. "Miss Walters, please proceed!"_

_Jennifer nodded and got up from her chair, and grabbed a glass which's contents she threw into Ryoga's face without further ado. "As you can see," she said calmly while the lost boy wiped excess water away, "Mr Hibiki has not changed thanks to the waterproof soap! Using this it was child's play to refute my client's claims that there were other individuals afflicted by Jusenkyo curses, especially as the Chinese Amazons had already returned to their homeland at this point. I can only speculate that most of my client's family and friends had convinced themselves of her guilt and thought she deserved the worst fate possible which is why they didn't say anything! _

_"Off the record, I haven't known Ranma for long, but it remains a mystery to me how anyone could put so much faith in the evidence as to completely ignore the widely known integrity and beliefs that make Ranma who she is!" she concluded and noted with satisfaction that the remaining Tendos had averted their gazes and were staring at the ground. "I would now like to make use of the newest advancement in the field of criminology and more, the memory player!"_

-.-

"And that was when things really went downhill for the Tendos and Nodoka Saotome, wasn't it, momma?" Ranma's daughter asked with big, curious eyes.

"Oh yes," Ranma mused calmly, a vindictive gleam entering her eyes as her mind drew up the pertinent memories, "The jury and everyone else got the whole nine yards, my story in all its ugliness! From my arrival in New York City to when I gave myself up. And they were not impressed, neither with how my case was handled nor with how my so-called family acted!"

Enya snorted softly. "No surprise there, mom! I can't believe how stupid they were, believing faked evidence so easily!"

"Yes, they should've known better, dear," Ranma agreed easily and tilted her head to tge left, smiling softly, "But them abandoning me gave me the chance to build my own life, one without them in it! I don't think I'd ever have become a super hero or Professor for Advanced Physics nor a multi-billionaire had my life progressed as they wanted. (_I doubt I'd ever have founded Parker Enterprises with Peter either.) _Yes, I went through a lot, but the crucible I went through was worth it in the end. Especially when you came into our lives, and your sisters thereafter!" she concluded softly and stroked her daughter's head affectionately.

Enya smiled up at her mother and snuggled into her. "And what happened to the Tendos and _that_ woman?"

"Well, the Tendos lost the dojo a year after their behaviour became common knowledge, dear. Nabiki Tendo had been sentenced to five years for various crimes and couldn't provide money to keep the dojo afloat as before, and with the complete lack of students due to the public backlash they had a snowball's chance in hell to pull through as no one would offer them jobs.

"Add to that that they had to pay hefty fines for illegal entering and their descent into poverty was practically assured! Oh, and not to forget that His Majesty's official declaration of my innocence and the explicit narration of the role the Tendos and _that_ woman played was akin to social suicide and their lives were destroyed," Ranma summarised, her eyes going distant, "Akane Tendo was sentenced to six years for her assault on me, which was comparatively mild, but her psychological problems worked in her favour. I heard she had to go through a lot of therapy and has moved to somewhere in Australia where she found work. The way I figure she cut all ties to her family seeing as none of them really stood by her during her trial. I assume they were too busy saving their own hides, as usual, but that's just speculation.

"Kasumi Tendo, well, she's living together with Nabiki in a very run-down flat somewhere not nice in Japan. Grandfather Happosai was very amused that it took Nabiki eleven years to get rid of the seal, and needless to say, her life is so ruined it isn't even funny! Soun Tendo, well, with his reputation shot like that he had no way of supporting himself. I have heard he left Japan to leave his dishonour behind, but I don't know what became of him nor do I care.

"As for _that_ woman, well, she tried to commit suicide two months after giving birth to your aunts and remains in an asylum to this day-"

"That's no loss, mom," Enya interjected with a frown.

Ranma nodded agreeingly. "Indeed, dear. I may have, hmm, compounded her psychological problems by visiting her with your father when I was six months pregnant with you. She didn't take it well!" the older redhead said with a wolfish grin.

"That poor, poor woman!" Enya breathed in mock-sympathy and shook her head, "Am I ever glad that I didn't inherit anything from her side!"

"You and me both, dear!" Ranma replied solemnly and cleared her throat, "As you well know, your Grandpa moved to the States with Ryoko and Emi when the legal stuff was dealt with, and we bought two neighbouring houses big enough for all of us. The Nerimans including the Tendos never bothered us again, and all things considered it has been a good life up till now. And it's been treating your aunt/uncle and the Parker brothers well as well. Amnar and Jen got together after a years' worth of teasing, and Ben and Kaine found great wives as well. Kaine, he got together with Jessica Drew who didn't care about his disfiguring scars, but she wasn't too unhappy when Reed, Peter, Ben and I cured him.

"I, well, I have a fantastic wife who's also the greatest husband one could wish for, kids that - although they're fond of driving me up the wall on occasion - are great and academic and 'heroic' success. Life's good."

"Mom, stop that! You're going all dreamy-eyed, and that always leads to these explicit sounds coming from the bedroom! I really don't want another sibling yet! Two kid sisters are more than enough!" Enya exclaimed forcefully, causing Ranma to blush slightly.

"Maybe you're gonna get a little brother this time?" the older redhead mused thoughtfully, her right index finger and thumb stroking her chin.

"Don't even joke about it, mom! Better tell me about the big fights you've been in, that latest one against the Hulk for example!" Enya suggested, her eyes gleaming.

Ranma shook her head in mirth and smiled. "Seeing as it is still early," she said after glancing at her watch and noting it was 9:32 p.m., "and because I think you're old enough to hear this I'll tell you another story instead. The final resolution of the clone problems!"

"Really?" Enya asked, excitement and anticipation lighting her eyes up.

"Really!" Ranma retorted with a smile and schooled her expression into the serious mask that was bound to get her daughter's undivided attention, "It was three months after my trial that we got a lead on the man who was responsible for all the things that had happened to your uncles Peter, Ben, Kaine and me..."

-.-

_"Are you absolutely sure this is accurate, Kaine?" Peter Parker asked intently, his eyes narrowed to slits as anger visibly poured off the spider-powered man._

_"Yes, Peter. I managed to trace Norman Osborn back to an abandoned warehouse at Upper East river. The whole base is underground and heavily fortified. Osborn has gone to great pains to ensure that spider-powered beings are kept out, and weren't it for the techniques Ranma taught us I would've been fried!" Kaine retorted grimly, his brown eyes narrowing, "Norman, he's really gone off the deep end! Batshit crazy! He was talking to all those glass tubes, and my heart stopped when I saw what was inside of them! They were clones, dozens of clones of Harry! He kept saying that he'd never lose Harry again now that the cloning technique had been perfected!"_

_Peter pushed himself off of Ranma's living room table he had been leaning against and began to pace, his face contorted in anger. "How dare this bastard do this and to his own son, my best friend, to boot!" he snarled out and clenched his fists, "He's dishonouring Harry, can't he see that?"_

_"It's probably more that he doesn't want to, Pete. He had a way to bring Harry back, and even if it's not really him, to Norman it's probably the next best thing!" Ben mused softly and grimaced, "Add to that, we know from painful experience that the clones can be programmed, and hasn't Norman always wanted an obedient son? That still means we gotta stop them clones and Norman, but I don't fancy having to cut through clones wearing the face of our former best friend!"_

_Kaine and Peter grimaced in unison and nodded solemnly. "You said he made more than one clone, Kaine?" Ranma asked, her expression grim and serious. Kaine nodded, and Ranma's expression firmed._

_"The way I see it, Norman Osborn's insane," she said calmly but grimly, "But he's also very intelligent and hates you, Peter. He wants to see you and Ben dead, of that I'm certain, and MJ's a likely target as well!"_

_"Hence why you sent Amnar over!" Peter commented with a grim nod._

_"There's no better person to protect MJ than her!" Ranma agreed with utter conviction, "And I fear MJ's gonna need all the protection she can get! That's why I notified Felicia as well. She's gone to fetch a little something from Reed, then we should be all set!"_

_"Seems like you've covered the bases!" Kaine commented gruffly and crossed his arms across his chest._

_"I hope so! But it's as they say, a plan seldom survives first contact with the enemy," Ranma retorted darkly, her lips compressed into a thin line._

_"And now we can do naught but wait," Ben mused and folded his hands behind his head._

_Little did he know that they wouldn't have to wait long._

_-.-_

_Several blocks away Mary Jane Watson-Parker pretended to do some ironing in front of the living room window of her's and Peter's flat. She had just been informed by Amnar - who had entered the flat invisible and undetected - that Norman Osborn had gone off the deep end and would likely target her and her unborn child in the attack Peter and the others expected to happen any minute now._

_"MJ!" Amnar hissed urgently from somewhere behind her, "Lay down that iron and walk towards the kitchen! It's started!"_

_MJ's eyes widened briefly but she immediately and inconspicuously complied and walked slowly and gently towards the kitchen. She had made it half-way when the window-front exploded in a shower of glass and fragments courtesy of the fiery projectile commonly known as a pumpkin bomb, prompting MJ to turn around as quickly as her pregnant form allowed. Her expression was just the right mixture of surprise, confusion and fear that showcased that Peter's wife was an excellent actress._

_Hovering on a Goblin glider in front of the destroyed window front was a traditionally clothed green goblin, his posture erect and almost arrogant, a pumpkin bomb held casually in his left hand. "Wh- What's the meaning of this?"_

_The Goblin's right hand reached up and slowly removed the face-mask in lieu of an answer, revealing the face underneath. MJ drew a startled gasp. "H- Harry? B- But you're dead!"_

_A sneer appeared on Harry's face. "I got better! The same can't be said about you, MJ! You're carrying the child of my worst enemy, therefore your life is forfeit!" he exclaimed in a hiss and raised the hand holding the pumpkin bomb._

_"Wh- What? Peter never was your enemy! You two even reconciled before you died! What happened to you, Harry?" MJ asked intently, her posture defiant._

_"I saw the error of my ways! My father was right all along, Peter's a menace who ruins anything he touches! Look at me, look at my life before Peter came into it! I was normal! Peter killed me and made me leave dad, Liz and Normie behind! No more! I'll prove to my father and everyone else that I'm better than Peter by killing him and anyone he holds dear! And I'll start with you!" Harry hissed, eyes narrowed to slits._

_"You- You can't be Harry! He'd never do what you're saying! Whoever you are, Peter will stop you!" MJ replied defiantly, her eyes blazing._

_A maniacal gleam entered Harry's eyes. "I am Harry, I just saw the light! Now good bye, MJ!" he exclaimed and made move to throw the bomb._

_The last thing the clone of Harry Osborn would ever see was the light of an energy blast heading straight for his head at incredible speed that reduced said cranium to nothing. MJ didn't even have time to scream as the headless body instantly crumbled to dust that fell to the ground along with the Goblin glider which hit the ground with a metallic clang, Amnar having reappeared in the spot where the Harry clone had met his demise, pumpkin bomb held securely in her right hand. _

_"Now you've really seen the light, you bastard!" Amnar exclaimed in grim satisfaction and turned her head to look at Spider-Man's wife, "Good acting, MJ!" the redhead commended with a smile and thumbs up, but her gaze wandering to the dusty ground her expression turned sheepish and she scratched the back of her head, "Umm, sorry 'bout the dusty floor bit!"_

_"Think nothing of it, Amnar. It sure beats the alternative!" MJ replied with a wry smile and wiped the sweat from her forehead._

_Amnar nodded empathically and activated her headset. "Sis, it's started! They're attacking Pete's and MJ's flat with everything they got, so get your ass over here yesterday!"_

_About two-and-a-half kilometres away blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "You all heard her! Let's move out!"_

-.-

"And that we did, dear," Ranma told her daughter and shifted her weight, "And if you're up to your best behaviour tomorrow I'll tell you the rest coming evening."

"But mom! You don't just stop in the middle of a story like that! It's just not done!" the younger redhead protested in a whine and made her blue eyes as large as possible to create the feared puppy dog eyes effect.

Ranma mock-frowned and tilted her head to the right. "Is that so?"

"Yeah! It's a cardinal rule that you don't do something like that! It's just that bad a style, mom!" Enya retorted empathically.

The older redhead gave a mock-shrug. "If you say so, dear. So we moved out, and your dad - who was your mom at the time - had just arrived..."

_Felicia's face was a mask of concentration as she willed the glider she had procured from Reed to fly faster. "Don't hold back at all, guys!" she heard Amnar radio in, "The Harry clones are pre-programmed and crumble to dust once they expire! Busy now, later!"_

_The Hardy's eyes narrowed further and coaxing even more speed out of the glider she entered the vicinity of Peter's and MJ's flat five seconds later. She closed in silently and stealthily, and the sight greeting her made her breath catch, for the airspace was literally crowded with Harry clones. __**'Nothing for it!'**__ she thought grimly and willed SD to form gattling guns on her forearms, shoulders, the outer sides of her thighs and shins, '__**Open fire, SD!'**__ she commanded and her symbiote obliged, spewing a constant stream of projectiles at the nearest clones._

_Nine clones were taken by surprise and died instantly, and Felicia thought __**'Sorry, Harry, but you would have wanted us to stop them!'**__ with a grim and furious expression on her masked face as she watched the gliders explode and the clone dust float to the ground, and going all out she let her tendrils out, her symbiote forming weapons of all kinds ranging from axes to swords to knives and every other throwing weapon in between that were then thrown at the clones around her by her tendrils._

_All the while the gattling guns kept on firing, but the Green Goblins began to fight back and threw pumpkin bombs and used their energy attacks in a bid to kill Felicia. To no avail, though, seeing as the symbiote-clad woman's super-human reflexes and spider-sense easily allowed her to dodge, deflect or outright return the bombs to sender. When Felicia killed a clone by obliterating it with an overpowered ki-blast the remaining five clones looked at each other and disengaged as one and flew towards the Parker's flat at high speed, pumpkin bombs primed and ready to be used._

_Felicia cursed like a sailor and gave chase, but she needn't have bothered seeing as a literal hailstorm of AA fire in form of fiery beach-ball-shaped projectiles erupted from the flat and tore into the attackers. The former Black Cat eeped and quickly gained altitude so as not to get caught in the friendly fire, and holding her breath she waited until the dust cloud had settled. The visual evidence unsurprisingly told her the same as her senses, the attackers had been completely obliterated by Amnar's attack._

_Felicia shook her head, her expression conveying just how angry she was that Norman Osborn was desecrating the memory of his own son like this to get his petty revenge on the Parkers. Her expression quickly lit up however when she felt her love as well as Peter and his brothers closing in, and cracking her neck she nodded grimly. It was time to get this one in the bag._

"And then dad really got into it, right, mom?" Enya asked with a knowing smile.

"Yeah. Your father knew Harry Osborn before his death, and when he says he was an okay guy even back then it is so. He really hated the way Norman Osborn was using Harry, so between him, the others and me we quickly made short work of the clones!

"We, that is Peter, Kaine, Ben, Amnar and I had retreated to the flat while your father dealt with the clones. But the clones kept on coming, which is why I saw myself forced to do something I loath..."

_Ranma and the others were standing in the living room of the Parkers' flat, and everyone, even the pregant Mary-Jane chose to remain standing seeing as the tension could practically be cut with a knife. The ex-Saotome had her hands behind her back and her eyes closed, her forehead furrowed in concentration. Expelling a deep breath she turned around, her eyes and expression serious._

_"There's more of them coming. You can all feel it. Felicia's protecting the flat and keeping the perimeter secure, but we have to get to the root of things. We must eliminate Norman Osborn and his thrice damned cloning facility!" she hissed and smacked her right fist into the palm of her left hand for emphasis, eliciting nods of agreement, "The problem we're facing, we need all the firepower we can get but cannot leave MJ unprotected. Taking you with us is out as it is too risky, MJ. The clones will keep on attacking, and there's none of our hero friends available to make sure you're safe either. I admit I really want to see Norman taken down for good so you'll understand I can't stay here," MJ nodded in understanding, "so I'll make a painful suggestion: Sym has agreed that she'll stay with you and protect you. With her capabilities devoted to keeping you safe the clones won't be able to harm a hair on your head, and we'd have covered every angle I can think of. But the decision's up to you, we just need it quick!"_

_"No pressure, eh?" MJ mused dryly and furrowed her brows in thought, __**'This... symbiote's the spawn of the thing that's always trying to kill Peter and that almost frightened me to death! But Ranma's done so much good with Sym's help, and she only survived because of her! Face it, MJ, you'd be dead weight without Sym, and I'd be weighing them down! There's but one choice!'**_

_"I'll do it! And before you ask, tiger, yes, I'm certain!" the redhead said determinedly, "I trust Ranma, and I trust Sym! So let's do this so you can kick Norman's ass once and for all!"_

_Peter nodded and smiled softly, a smile that was mirrored by his brothers. They too had come to know how determined and forceful MJ could get, so full of zest and life, and both men were glad that the woman they had come to regard as their sister-in-law would be well protected. _

_"Good," Ranma said, and a brief sad and forlorn expression appearing on her face the redhead willed Sym off her body. The symbiote, leaving her host standing in black briefs and an equally black undershirt that did nothing to hide Ranma's incredible curves, wasted no time and slithered over to MJ, pooling at her feet. There Sym waited as if waiting for MJ's permission, and when the redhead said, "Let's do this!" the alien began the covering process._

_"I still can't believe Ranma was born a boy," Ben muttered with a disbelieving shake of his head._

_"Yeah, she's an incredibly good looking bird," Kaine agreed easily._

_"Ahem," Ranma ground out, her hands on her hips as she glared at the spider-powered men, "This 'incredibly good looking bird' can still clean your clocks even without Sym, boys!"_

_"Hey! I'm not responsible for what my brothers say, so no guilt by association here!" Peter protested indignantly while his brothers tried to look innocent._

_Ranma swivelled her head, her glare boring into Peter. "They've got the same thought-patterns as you, so I can so lump you three together!" she harrumphed, not letting up on her glare in the slightest much to MJ's and Amnar's silent amusement, "Now I'm going to the bathroom to change into my spare costume, far away from prying perverted eyes!" she declared, and her nose up in the air the redhead left the room._

_"Women! Must be her time of the month!" Kaine muttered to himself and froze in fear when he felt a huge surge of ki coming from down the floor, "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud!"_

_"Sorry bud, you're on your own in this!" Ben whispered with Peter nodding empathically._

_"Kaine, Kaine, Kaine, we'll have to have a lengthy spar after this is over!" Ranma said sweetly from the hallway, "And don't bother trying to run, I'll find you anyway!"_

_With her threat delivered footsteps could be heard patting away and Kaine sighed, his expression that of a doomed man. "I'm screwed!" he exclaimed and lowered his head, "Maybe it'd be less painful if I got myself killed by the Harry clones?"_

_"Nah, she'd probably drag you back from the pits of hell just to beat you up," Ben commented and tilted his head, "Yeah, bro, you're screwed! Do I get that TV system you bought? You won't need it any more-"_

_"Enough with the chit-chat, boys," MJ's voice interrupted, "Just one little piece of advice, you don't say stuff like this about a woman even if it's right on the dot, regardless of how strong and tough you are! It always ends badly! Now go get Norman!"_

_"You don't look any different, MJ," Ben commented, but a look of comprehension appearing on his face he added, "Unless... Sym's mimicking your clothes to give the impression that you're helpless!"_

_"Got it in one, Ben!" MJ retorted with a smile and tilted her head to the side, "But I don't think we're going to keep this charade up for long, for Sym's suggesting we play this by ear! Even though I'm not defenceless any more the clones could still succeed in destroying the flat or even the building! She says I should head over to Aunt May to ensure that she's safe."_

_"Good idea. I'm not certain Norman won't stoop so low as to attack her!" Peter grumbled darkly._

_Amnar came running into the room clothed in a Spider-Man costume sans facemask. "Sorry Pete, had to grab one of your spare costumes and web shooters! Catch, sis!" the redhead - who looked identical to her sister in every which way nowadays thanks to Sym subjecting her to the same treatment Ranma had gone through after the bond with Sym had been formed - exclaimed and threw a pair of mechanical webshooters at her sister who was just entering the living room in her Yin Yang Spider costume and caught them easily and put them on with a "Thanks!". _

_"Feel right at home," Peter commented with an amused smile._

_Amnar grinned unrepentantly and turned to her sister. "Felicia's doing a great job outside, but we should get to the root of things as soon as possible!"_

_"Then less wasting time and more kicking Goblin ass!" Ranma exclaimed eliciting a chorus of agreement._

_"And then we finally got going! You should've seen MJ's face when Sym covered it, and I'd bet everything I have that she was a hairsbreadth away from screaming in joy when she went webslinging for the first time!" Ranma narrated with a smile on her face. Said smile gave way to a serious expression when the redhead gathered her thoughts. "Your father had fought tirelessly to keep the clones at bay in the meantime and had succeeded brilliantly! But the clones kept on coming in a bid to kill MJ and her unborn daughter as the cloning vats churned out clone after clone! With MJ safe we really cut loose and trailing the clones' path to the abandoned warehouse Kaine had found we were ready to bring an end to the nightmare..."_

_"This is the place!" Kaine exclaimed from where he was balanced on top of the chain link fence surrounding the abandoned warehouse that served as Norman Osborn's base of operations, "Don't let yourselves be fooled by the desolate appearance, the underground facility is top-notch!"_

_"As expected of the narcissist asshole!" Peter ground out angrily._

_"There's the next clone!" Ranma exclaimed in an almost bored tone, "And I bet everything that I have that Oz already knows we're here, so..."_

_The redhead concentrated for a moment and unleashed a flurry of vacuum blades at the flying Harry clone. Years of expertise and uncanny accuracy ensured that a pile of dust crumbled to the ground moments later, and the acoustic spectacle of an exploding Goblin glider echoed through the evening air._

_"Now Oz knows for sure that we're here!" Ben deadpanned with his head tilted to the side._

_Ranma shrugged unrepentantly. "Who needs the element of surprise anyway? Let's kick more ass and take names!"_

_"Wait a second, sis, I'm in the mood for some wanton destruction, and I've got just the thing!" Amnar spoke up enthusiastically, the redhead grinning gleefully behind her facemask._

_The three Parkers looked at each other. "What is it with redheads and their penchant for destruction?" Kaine muttered quietly._

_"Don't know. Don't want to know!" Ben muttered back equally as quiet, "I think I'll be going for a blonde or a brunette, seems much safer to me!"_

_"You can only lose asking question such as these, bro," Peter commented sagely in as quiet a voice as his brothers, "And Ben, being married to a redhead has its perks, believe me!"_

_"If you're quite finished, boys," Ranma spoke up in a decidedly unamused tone of voice that made the three Parkers flinch, her face set in a frown with her blue eyes glinting behind her facemask, "What did you have in mind, sis?"_

_Amnar let the equally as unamused expression slip from her face and turned her head to look at her sister. "Provide me with some cold ki and you'll see!"_

_Ranma just shrugged and delved deeply into the soul of ice. "Let's step up a bit so that the variant of the Hiryuu Shoten Ha you're obviously planning flattens the fence as well as any booby traps Norman may have planted!"_

_"A ki attack called 'Rising dragon ascension'?" Peter asked apprehensively, "Per chance as destructive as its mythological counterpart?"_

_"Yep!" both redheads chirped cheerfully in unison, their answer prompting the Parkers to back away slowly but surely._

_"Too bad Felicia can't be here, sis! She was the one who gave me the idea," Amnar said causing Ranma to tilt her head in surprise exclaiming a soft "Cool!", and smiling in bemusement behind her facemask at her smitten sister the phoenix-powered martial artist began to generate an enormous amount of heat, "Now let's do this! Follow my lead!" she exclaimed and began to move in the infamous pattern that led up to the devastating ki attack._

_Ranma did as requested and followed Amnar's movements exactly, and three Parkers could only gape in astonishment when both redheads punched their fists forward in front of themselves, Amnar exclaiming, "Hiryuu Shoten Ha revised, Daitoppa!"_

_A tornado of immense proportions came into being in front of the martial artists, and using their ki Ranma and Amnar directed the artificial embodiment of elemental destruction towards the warehouse. Inside the underground base Norman Osborn had apparently realised that the game was up, for six Harry clones shot into the evening sky on Goblin gliders. Peter, Kaine and Ben engaged them without missing a beat, and where Norman had banked upon the Parkers letting their emotional attachment to Harry impair their judgement the opposite was the case._

_Backed by their intense martial arts training and increased abilities the three attacked the clones with cold, furious efficiency while the redheads directed the tornado to tear into the warehouse. Two things happened in short order, the clones were taken down and the warehouse crumpled in on itself._

_And then Ranma pointed her right index finger forward and downwards. "See the shiny metal surface beneath the rubble? This is where we must go!"_

Ranma paused in her narration to take a sip from the glass of water standing on the night console. "And that we did. Being the strongest Amnar had to punch through ten centimetres of hardened steel alloy, but that was no problem for her. Then we entered the shaft and began our little invasion..."

-.-

_"Guys, that's a lot of life signs ahead!" Peter spoke up apprehensively as he walked cautiously through the narrow hallway. The quintet had been surrounded by absolute darkness in the beginning until Amnar provided illumination by bringing forth her fiery aura._

_"Yeah," Ranma agreed warily, the flickering light causing shadows to dance across her face, "Sis, vacuum blades, wide-spread as soon as this hallway opens up! We have to take as many of them out as we can before we engage them hand to hand!"_

_"Agreed!" Amnar retorted, her eyes narrowing, "And Osborn will pay for this... this waste of life!"_

_"Oh yeah, we'll make him pay! Pay in blood!" Kaine agreed darkly and cracked his knuckles, Peter and Ben making agreeing exclamations._

_The redheads just nodded grimly and marched ahead with determined strides, and the quintet just paused to disable booby traps and other surprises Norman Osborn had prepared to stop intruders. As soon as they had reached what could only be called the lab Ranma and Amnar employed their agreed upon tactic and let loose a virtual hailstorm of vacuum blades that cut through anything in their path._

_Machinery exploded in showers of sparks, tanks containing clones were sliced through and more Harry clones were cut down where they stood. Other airborne clones that were floating on their gliders in the high-walled room partially escaped their brethren's fate, and they needn't be told twice when a furious male voice shouted, "Kill them all!"_

_Chaos reigned and utter havoc ensued as pumpkin bombs and energy attacks on one side and ki-blasts were employed on the other side. Ranma and Amnar were fighting side by side, deflecting or intercepting the clones' attacks while pressing their own attacks like female furies. Clone after clone fell under the onslaught as the duo of redheaded martial artists employed the full range of the Saotome school of martial arts while the Parker trio dished out the same in a watered down version that was still more than sufficient in dominating the clones._

_Ranma had just disposed of another clone when she caught sight of Norman Osborn. The crazed genius was standing on an elevated circular platform of about two metres in diameter with his back turned, a large black cloak shrouding his body. The original Green Goblin was furiously typing away on a control console and crowed in delight in just the moment when Ranma had ended another clone in an almost absent manner by piercing his heart with a ki blast at point blank._

_The redhead felt her ki output rise involuntarily as her eyes narrowed in hate, and she only managed to shake herself out of her episode when a hand patted her shoulder. "He's yours, sis. Go get him!"_

_Ranma turned her head to regard her sister, her eyes raging oceans of deep blue. "Thanks, sis!" she retorted with a grim grin and didn't waste a second._

_Her leap took her seven metres into the air and a ki blast formed in both hands in seconds. So angry was Ranma that a Tadashii fungeki double leapt from her hands, slamming into Norman Osborn's back with the force of a freight train. Ranma didn't care that it was hardly fair nor honourable to attack someone's unprotected back, all that mattered to her was taking Osborn down._

_She absently disposed of three clones that sought to attack her in her seemingly distracted state and watched Osborn get blasted through the far wall with a satisfying crunching sound. Ranma tensed her muscles and was about to leap after the bane of her existence when a blur tackled her with incredible force. Before she knew what was going on Ranma found herself held by the throat in an incredibly strong grip, and the grinning face of Norman Osborn sneered up at her._

_"I must thank you for your wonderfully insightful interview, Miss Saotome!" Norman said conversationally with a pleasantness that was belied by the insane glint in his eyes, and his bark of, "Cease all fighting or she dies here and now!" confirmed how dangerous the man was._

_Ranma narrowed her eyes hatefully and tried everything to free herself while she was looking for weaknesses in the strange black-coloured armour the man was wearing, but the grip Norman Osborn had on her was like a hydraulic press powered by a cold fission reactor, absolutely unbreakable. She even tried to form her ki-claws, but those flickered out of existence before they were even fully formed, and she felt herself growing weaker by the second. When her fellow fighters realised that Ranma wouldn't be breaking free Amnar and the Parkers reluctantly gave themselves up, causing Norman to smirk in triumph._

_"You see, without you, Miss Saotome, I would never even have considered to build an armour that's powered by foreign life energy! And all it took to activate it were those lovely ki-blasts you fired at me!" Norman crowed, insane glee shining in his eyes, "It's also as I thought, your claims were false! You do not have a sentient suit or symbiote as they'd have protected you, it was all a trick! But that's the way all dazzlers end! Soon I'll have drained all your life energy from you-"_

_Norman started in surprise when the ki-drain suddenly stopped, and seconds later a gurgle was all he managed when he found a serrated blade pierced right through his heart despite his armour. Time seemed to stop as the insane man's armour hissed and sizzled and shorted itself out with an almost comical PFOOOMPH! that made Osborn almost topple over backwards, and Norman's grip slackened and his eyes widened when he saw a tall silver-haired man fade into view behind Ranma. Said man wrapped his arms around the redhead's mid-section and levelled a hard glare at Norman, his state of almost complete undress – save for red briefs and an equally red undershirt – seeming not to bother him in the slightest. _

_Blood trickled from the corners of Norman's mouth in rivulets and surprise edged into his face he watched a black and red substance proceeding to cover the redhead until everything but her face was covered, leaving her clad in SD's base form, tendrils included. "Thanks for the rescue, you two! Seems I was the damsel in distress this time around!" Ranma said, her head tilted so that she could smile at her fiancé._

_"You're very welcome, dear!" Felix replied with a reciprocating smile._

_Time seemed to speed up again and chaos erupted all around as the clones and Amnar and the Parkers began to resume their battle. Not to be outdone Ranma decided to join the fray and moments later her tendrils exploded into action and skewered every clone within a radius of five metres. The Parkers and Amnar quickly made short work of the remaining clones in short order. _

_Ranma, Norman's hands still grasping her throat, smiled darkly at the super villain, but her smile turned into a frown. "You have way too much fight and life left in you for my liking, Norman! My, my, do we have a healing factor and haven't told anyone about it? Tut, tut!" she scolded and twisted the blade around, making Norman gasp in pain._

_"That's how he survived all those time, the damned Goblin serum has to have given him regenerative powers!" Peter concluded with a snap of his fingers; Kaine and Ben had apparently arrived at the same conclusion as both were nodding._

_"That's... right! And as... none of you... pussies... have the balls... to do me in... you can be... certain that... I'll be back!" Norman exclaimed and was about to throw a smoke bomb when his hands were suddenly impaled by symbiote tendrils._

_"I'd so love to prove him wrong, but the honour's yours, Ranma!" Kaine said coldly, only the edge in his voice betraying his immense anger._

_Ranma gave Kaine a curt and respectful nod. Norman whereas was completely startled and managed to turn the yell of pain into a strangled moan, but the loathing in his glare was easily surpassed by Ranma's own glare. "Thanks to your efforts I'm comfortable with having no balls, Osborn. Thanks to your efforts I was also living a nightmare! I woke up," Felix tightened his grip around Ranma's waist and kissed the crown of her hair lovingly, "But I won't forgive and forget! You made me into what I am, the bringer of your demise! Good bye!"_

_Ranma moved all of her tendrils to in front of her, said tendrils having turned themselves into all kinds of assorted weapons, her gaze so hard it could have been carved from stone. "Wait, I-"_

_"I'm not interested in what you have to say, Osborn! No slap on the wrist, no second chances! And now the time for words has passed! Shi ne!" Ranma hissed and brought her tendrils to bear..._

"And then I just killed him," Ranma said calmly, "And Amnar reduced his body to ash just to be on the safe side!"

"Aww mom! Details! I want details!" the younger redhead whined petulantly.

"I swear your symbiote's a bad influence on you despite that she always claims its the other way around!" Ranma mused with a shake of the head, her eyes twinkling, "Let's just say I got creative before putting him out of his misery and leave it at that!

"Now, we had to clean up the rest, and after we had disposed of the last clone your father and I finally had a moment to ourselves..."

_Ranma and Felix stood amidst the ruins of another section of the lab holding each other close, dust scattered all around them on the polished steel floor. The redhead sighed contently and rested her head on her fiancé's chest. "It's finally over!" she said and sighed deeply, "Osborn's dead!"_

_"I'm glad you got closure, dear," Felix said softly and stroked Ranma's hair lovingly, "And I'm so glad that you survived everything that got thrown your way. You never gave up, and everything worked out in the end. Everyone got what they deserved!"_

_"Even you?" Ranma asked, a tad of insecurity leaking through in her voice._

_"Absolutely. I got you! What more do I need?" Felix asked and kissed the crown of her head._

_Ranma smiled contently. "Wish we could stay like this forever, but there's the matter of these extremely weak life signs to attend to-"_

_"Let the boys take care of them," Felix whispered and pulled Ranma even closer with a content smile on his face, "Now I believe you still have something that's mine, dear."_

_The redhead smiled slyly. "Whatever could that be?"_

_"Dear, be a dear and help my state of undress. It's getting drafty!" Felix half-complained._

_"But I like you this way!" Ranma protested._

_Felix looked down at Ranma, insecurity obvious in his eyes. "Really?"_

_"Yes, really. The body you're wearing doesn't matter to me as I love you, Mr Hardy, be you man or woman. And I could really care less what others think about it!" Ranma said softly but with underlying steel in her voice, "I love you!"_

_"And I love you!" Felix returned with a loving smile._

"Sadly we were interrupted by Peter and his brothers. They had found something really interesting, or rather someone. Turns out that Harry Osborn wasn't as dead as we had thought. His father had recovered his body and placed him in suspended animation, but he wasn't successful in reviving him. So he did the next best thing once the technology became available to him, he cloned himself an army of loyal sons. Bastard! I hope he rots in hell!" Ranma grumbled and shook her head to gather herself, "But I admit, it took Reed and me a long time to bring Harry back without killing him, and we only succeeded last year after Reed made the final breakthrough. Needless to say, Harry was horrified by what his father had done, which is why he puts so much effort into clearing the Osborn name and helps us out a lot. We never told him how his father died, just that he was taken down after a big fight. I don't have to tell you-"

"My lips are sealed, mom!" Enya promised seriously, "But now tell me, how did I come about? And why is Daddy Erin's and Ragna's mom?"

"That, my dear, is a story for another time. But let's just say you were a wonderful accident-"

"Accident?" Enya muttered almost forlornly, her head drooping in sadness.

Ranma realised that she would have to expound on it for her daughter's sake and softly raked her hand through Enya's long hair. "Don't ever think you were unwanted, dear!" she said with so much conviction Enya raised her head in surprise and gazed directly into her mother's eyes that were literally brimming with love, "It's just that I never thought I'd be the mother seeing as I was born male. But your father and I had just survived a very fierce battle during which both of us almost died several times..."

_"I still can't believe we managed to stop Thanos from getting his hands on the Infinity gems!" Ranma said as he let go of the line of webbing and landed on the rooftop of his house with a stagger._

_His spouse followed him suit and copied the awkward landing. "Me neither! And we can count our blessings that the two of us seem to have nine lives!"_

_Ranma nodded darkly and staggered towards the skylight. "I stopped counting the times we almost died in the end!" he replied and produced a remote. Keying in a ridiculously long and complicated code and pushing a button to confirm it caused the skylight to open, and the gender-changer jumped downwards._

_He staggered towards the night console of the bed where he kept his emergency chocolate supply and absently registered Felicia landing. "I'm so in the mood for some comfort food!" he muttered with his mouth almost watering and involuntarily changed to female seeing as chocolate always tasted better when female._

_**'Sym, change me into something comfy,'**__ Ranma thought, and her costume rippled and changed into white spandex shorts and a white tank top just as she bent down to open the night console, and Ranma had just helped herself to a decently sized piece of chocolate when she felt herself being turned around by strong hands. Arms wrapped themselves around her mid-section and pulled her close, and Ranma's now husband whispered, "I'm so glad you came out of this okay, dear. I love you!"_

_Ranma didn't have the chance to reply seeing as she found herself being kissed senseless, and she let herself go when hands began to roam..._

"And this, dear, led to a night so memorable that I still cherish it to this day. And before you say anything, you wanted to know, dear!" Ranma shrugged with an impish grin.

Enya looked faintly uncomfortable and nodded sheepishly. "And then, mom?"

"Well, I found out that your father had hit the bullseye seven weeks later, and I so enjoyed making his life hell for the next thirty-nine weeks. So you see, even though you came about as unplanned as can be you were never unwanted! Your father and I love you, and we never regretted that we let our feelings consume us. You, my daughter, are the best thing that happened to me right up there with your father and sisters!" Ranma whispered lovingly and smiled, "And as for your other question, well, let's just say I got back at your father!" she grinned.

Enya nodded in understanding. "I see."

"Now don't forget, Celine's coming over with her big sister May and her parents Peter and MJ tomorrow. And Ryoga and Akari wanted to visit with their kids as well! You'll need your energy!" Ranma said with a soft smile.

Enya glanced at her watch and relented upon realising that is was pretty late. "Okay, mom!" the smaller redhead acquiesced and disappeared from her mother's lap in a blur of motion to reappear beneath her blankets, a smile on her face as she got comfortable, "Night!"

Ranma smiled softly and walked the few steps to the head of the bed, and bending down she kissed Enya's forehead. "Good night and sleep tight, dear. Love you."

Enya yawned softly and smiled at her mother. "Love you too, mom!"

The older redhead smiled contently and watched her daughter with maternal pride. **'All the pain, sweat and blood was worth getting to this point, and if I'd to do it over again I wouldn't change a single thing!'** she thought and closed the door.

Ranma then grinned and shifted into a tall blond man and produced a cell phone from a pocket that had formed on his right tigh.

"Yo Ben, the guys already there?" he asked good-humouredly.

_"Hey doc, Logan's just come in, the others can't be far behind,"_ Ben replied in his bassy rumble.

"Good. I'll be over shortly," Ranma replied and hang up after Ben's reply.

A roguish grin appeared on Ranma's face. "Thank God for Friday's and Ben's and Logan's poker nights." he mused to himself and whistled a tune as Sym formed his costume.

In under a minute Ranma was web-slinging through the valleys of concrete and glass that were Manhattan's streets, and one thought ran through his head, **'Life's good!'**

The End.

That's it. The end of the road after several years. Yes, sure, I could have written more, expounded more upon the universe I created, but I found it's a good point to stop. Ranma has grown so much both in strength and character that throwing interesting challenges his/her way would prove difficult anyway. Add to that that round about 400k words is simply enough in my opinion.

Now let me take the chance to thank all of my readers and reviewers who never tired to show me their support and provided me with ideas, concepts or just food for thought. Thanks!

I would also like to thank my beta readers - most noteworthy Wes - who made my works better than they would have been otherwise.

It was a great ride, and I had fun writing 'Betrayal's Reward'.

On another note, if you have read this far and want to know why the last chapter took so long in coming and why I haven't answered messages just take a look at my profile. But even that is old news as my son Soren J. was born to us about four weeks ago. Writing will take a bit of a backseat seeing as we're now a quintuple.

Hope we'll see each other again - methaphorically speaking - in good health when I'll continue my next project(s).

Tru


End file.
